Eyes So Strange
by fawningfantasy
Summary: When Alexis convinced her best friend Bella to move to Forks, she could never have imagined what would happen. Captivated by a pale boy with the same golden eyes that haunted her dreams her entire life, she wondered why he looked so confused when he saw her. And why were his family looking at her as though she was a mystery? Jasper/OC (Being Re-written)
1. A Small Affair

**Chapter 1: A Small Affair**

 **-x-x-x-**

" _I want to fly,_

 _Into this beautiful life,_

 _I think it'd be nice with you."_

Cider Sky – Northern Lights

 **-x-x-x-**

It was a small affair.

I watched as the newlyweds danced their first dance, blissfully unaware of their surroundings as they got lost in each other's eyes. They gazed at each other lovingly, as though they were the only two beings on the earth at that very moment.

"Do you think you'll ever want that?" I asked, turning my gaze to my left, where my best friend Bella sat fidgeting with a loose thread on her dress.

"What?" she asked, blinking rapidly as her mind came back from her internal thoughts.

"Love." I sighed, "A love where, when you're together, it seems like the whole world just disappears." I explained, glancing back at the happy couple.

Bella shrugged her shoulders, "I haven't really thought about it." She mumbled. "Have you?"

"Sometimes." I started. "It's kind of hard to live with my parents and not think about love."

"Yeah. I guess they just hit lucky."

As I turned to my morose best friend, I couldn't help but notice that she seemed quite miserable. Not because she didn't want her mother to re-marry, but because I knew she often viewed herself as a burden. And to be honest, it wasn't exactly a new trait for her.

Bella and I had been best friends since we were seven years old. Ever since my first day in Phoenix.

I was originally from Ireland, and when I arrived at my new school in Arizona, it was obvious that I wasn't from there. Not only because I had a different accent, but because I was the only pale one in the room. Well, all except one other person; Bella.

I could tell that she was an outcast from the second I laid eyes on her. She had been sat alone in the corner of the room, eyes cast down. In an instance, I walked on over and started talking to her. I could still remember the shock in her eyes as she realised that someone was acknowledging her existence.

Becoming friends with Bella had been quite fortunate for me. Due to her love of reading, we used to spend most of our time in the library or in each other's bedrooms. That meant I didn't have to spend too much time out in the sun; the sun which I loathed. I supposed that my distaste for the sun and the idea of getting a tan also set me apart from the other students at the school.

Their friendship was probably the only reason why I hadn't broken after a week, begging to be taken home to Ireland.

And yet, Bella often apologised to me; feeling as though she was holding me back from making more friends, from having an exciting life. And no matter what I said to try and calm her down, to reassure her, she just never seemed to listen to me.

Her feelings of being a burden only heightened when Phil came into the picture. Now she felt like she wasn't just holding me back but holding her mother back too.

She knew how much her mother wanted to travel with Phil for his job as a minor league baseball player. Renee constantly reassured her that everything was fine and that she didn't want to travel, but both Bella and I knew better than that.

"Bella, I know you're not happy. I know that you feel like you're going to be a burden but you're not" I said, trying to comfort her. "You know you could always go and live with your dad?" I offered.

"I haven't seen Charlie in years, Lex." She sighed. "I don't even know if he'd want me to live with him. He's probably busy; has a routine that I'd just get in the way of."

Taking her attention away from the newlyweds, I tried to reason with her "You know you won't be a burden to him… He doesn't want to leave Forks, and I'm sure he wants to see you more. You saw his face when you stopped going to Forks to visit him. Hell, the poor guy even leaves to come visit you every now and then."

"You don't understand. It's such a small town... The old ones will remember me and anyone our age will just look at me like some kind of alien." She explained "I don't want to act like I know people that I clearly don't remember."

"I'm sure it wouldn't be that bad, Bella."

"Why do you want me to go anyway? What would you do if I wasn't here?" she scoffed, playing with another part of her dress. She wasn't really a girl who wore dresses. "I'm the only person you bothered to make friends with."

Taking a deep sigh, I knew that it was time to tell her the news. The news that I had been tormented by for the past two weeks, trying to figure out the best way to spring it on my best friend. "That's what I've been meaning to talk to you about… I'm not going to be staying in Phoenix much longer." I explained, eyes squinting in worry, waiting for what her reaction would be.

"What?" She asked, eyes filling with panic as she leaned towards me. "What are you talking about? Where are you going?"

"Forks." I simply shrugged, giving what I was sure could only be described as a pitiful smile. "My dad can see how unhappy my mother is in a city, Bella. I'm not exactly happy about living here either. We both miss Ireland, so my dad got a job at the hospital in Forks; he thinks it'll help me, and my mum enjoy what America has to offer."

"But Forks, Washington? Why would you go there? It's wet and it's cold and…" Bella trailed off as the realisation hit her. "And a lot like Ireland. That's exactly where you would go."

"Exactly." I sighed, starting to doubt if I'd really be able to convince her. "Please, B. You've been my best friend for 10 years, I really don't want to finish school without you. I think you should at least give it a try."

"I don't know." Bella mumbled, fidgeting with her dress once more, clearly still uncomfortable in it. "I guess that I could try and see if Charlie would let me move in for a couple of months or something… Maybe until the end of the school year?" She offered. "Mum would be able to find her dream home in the meantime, maybe."

A small smile tugged at my lips as I noticed she was starting to come around. "Bella, I'm telling you, I think this could be really great. I mean what have we really gotten from Phoenix? There isn't really anything here for us except each other and soon I'm not going to be here." I explained looking back at Bella's mum still dancing "She'll be able to travel for a while, so you'll feel better... I'll still have you in my life, so I'll feel better... Sounds like a win-win to me."

Bella sighed once more, looking down at her feet, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

I knew how difficult it would be for the brunette to try and reconnect with her father again. It was clear to see where she had inherited her awkward nature from. I once went with Bella to visit her father in Forks when we were 8. Charlie was a genuinely kind man, always trying to make some kind of awkward small talk. But unless you know about sports, there just wasn't much he was capable of talking about. Luckily, having grown up with an older brother, I quite enjoyed sports.

As I thought back to my small time in Forks, I remembered that the small rainy town was where the dreams had first started. The dreams that would continue in some form or another every night for the following nine years on my life. The subject being golden eyes the colour of hot amber.

"I'll call him in the morning." Bella finally announced, bringing me back to the current situation. "Check if he's okay with the idea before I mention anything to mom."

Unable to stop the grin that made its way onto my face, I drew Bella into a tight hug. "I swear that this will be great for us!" I assured. "I promise. I can feel it. Even if I have to do some drastic things to make you enjoy it there."

With that, Bella let out a small laugh, already starting to relax at the idea of returning to Forks.

Looking over towards the table where my family sat, I locked eyes with my father, giving him a small thumbs up. He beamed in response, turning to talk to my older brother Adam. They all knew exactly what I was going to ask of my best friend; in fact, it was why my father had applied to Forks in the first place. He had known that the best possible way to get his daughter to relax in a new town was to have her best friend by her side. This way, there was a possibility of everyone being happy.

My father, Oliver Hanson, was born in the USA, moving over to Ireland in his late teens to study medicine away from home. It was there that he would meet the girl of him dreams, Maeve, my mother. After a few years together, they married and had their two children; me and Adam. But our father started to miss home, so we moved over.

Forks was a compromise between the couple, the environment and general ambience of Ireland whilst being situated in the United States.

Seeing how my mother animatedly spoke to the people around her, I knew how excited she already was. I knew that my mother had missed painting the trees, the rain hitting the dark waters of a river in the middle of a shadowed forest. We would often sit and reminisce together, talking about my few memories of our home. The main thing we would find ourselves laughing about, was our tendency to get sunburnt in Phoenix no matter how much we tried to avoid it; it wasn't the safest climate for the pair of us.

I just hoped that I would be able to keep my promise to my best friend. I hoped that Bella wouldn't regret going with me to her old home town. I hoped that something great would happen in Forks; a miracle.

After all, you never know what can happen.

 **-x-x-x-**

 **A/N: Thanks for reading the first chapter, next chapter we'll be on our way to Forks, getting closer to Jasper.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to leave a review with any constructive criticism or opinions you may have.**

 **Thanks again,**

 **~fawningfantasy x**


	2. The Journey Ahead

**Chapter 2: The Journey Ahead**

 **-x-x-x-**

" _As long as we're together,_

 _Does it matter where we go?_

 _Home."_

Gabrielle Aplin - Home

 **-x-x-x-**

It had been a few months since the wedding.

Bella's parents had agreed to the idea of Bella moving to Forks for a while. I was so excited that I wouldn't be completely alone when attending Forks High School for the first time; to be quite honest I was going to be using Bella as my safety blanket. Being the chief's daughter, she'd gain the most attention, I was sure of it. Was it mean to use her as a way to keep attention off me the first day? Probably. But would I be there to help her through it? Definitely.

If I saw her getting uncomfortable I would do my best to help her out, to take some of the pressure off of her. I'd never make it so she was miserable.

I had been staying with Bella for the past two weeks, my parents going to Forks ahead of me to sort out the house and get everything in order.

It was agreed that Bella and I would travel together so that she wouldn't have to travel on her own. When my father had heard Bella was thinking about flying over solo, he quickly arranged for me to stay with her until she was able to move across.

The morning of the move, we were packing our bags for the plane.

"You know, your main argument for leaving here was that we don't do anything in Phoenix." Bella said, placing her favourite book in her carry on.

"And?" I asked, double checking I had my passport and ticket in my bag.

"So, you should make sure that the same thing doesn't happen in Forks."

"And how do you think we accomplish that?" I asked, sitting down on her bed that was now stripped of its sheets.

"Write a list?" she suggested. "You should write a list of everything that you want to do before we leave school. Maybe it'll motivate you to do more."

"What about you?"

"We both know you'll convince me to do things I normally wouldn't." She sighed.

Snickering, I made sure there was a notebook and pen in my carry on. "I don't even know what I want to do. How am I meant to make a list out of nothing?"

"I don't know. Think about it when we're on the plane." She said, throwing my iPod into my suitcase. Before turning away, she picked something out of it "Do you really need all this fancy stuff?" she asked, holding up some pretty lace underwear. "You've shown zero interest in guys, Lex." Bella finished, before dropping it like it had burnt her.

"They're not _for_ guys. I feel better in them." I shrugged, zipping up my suitcase.

"They are the least comfortable things in the world." She scoffed, zipping up her own suitcase after throwing in the final items.

"But they're so pretty" I pouted, before we both burst out laughing "Okay, whatever. Anyways, I'll think about the list. But you better do some of it with me!" I said, pointing at her "I'm not having you be boring as I turn into the amazingly fun adventurous person.

Bella smirked, "I don't think we'll have that problem."

"Rude."

 **-x-x-x-**

Waiting patiently in the back of the car, I watched as Bella said goodbye to her mother.

Charlie was going to pick us up on the other end and drive us the rest of the way to Forks. Luckily, the house that my parents managed to get wasn't too far away from his. Apparently, we would be able to see each other from our bedroom windows.

I often found myself thankful for the parents I had, they were constantly thinking of others. I'm sure Forks wouldn't have been at the top of the list for my father, but he was trying to help ease me into the move. Help me with the new town. Even if I would only have Bella with me for a few months before going back to her mom, it was better than being alone from the very beginning.

To be honest I didn't understand why they were saying goodbye just now, her mom and Phil were dropping us off at the airport. But I suppose if I had to leave my parents for a good few months I'd have to say goodbye multiple times too.

With a quick shout from Phil saying we needed to go, our journey was finally underway.

 **-x-x-x-**

On the plane, we sat discussing what we thought was waiting for us in Forks.

"What if we hate the people at the school?" Bella asked me.

"We didn't like the people we went to school with in Phoenix, how would that be any different?" I laughed softly "Bella, I know you are a professional at panicking, but think about how good it could possibly be. What if this is the place where we actually make friends who aren't each other?"

Scoffing, she started looking through the random booklets she found in her seat pocket. "I highly doubt that's even possible at this point. You know I don't like attention."

"You don't need to like attention to have friends. I'm trying to be optimistic here, Bells. Please join me?" I pleaded, snatching the booklet from her hands.

"I just can't see it being any different, Lex. I wish that I could but… I just don't think it will."

"Well I'm going to prove you wrong. Even if I have to pay people to be amazing to you, I will." I stated, pulling the notebook out of my bag. "Starting with a list of things to do."

"How are you being so calm about this? You _hate_ new situations." She said.

"Like I said, I'm trying to be optimistic." I sighed "I'm tired of basically being scared to even answer an unknown number."

"You really think it can be different?"

"I'm hoping so." I said, before shaking my head with a laugh "Anyway, time to write the 'we won't be as boring' list."

She softly laughed as she opened her 'Wuthering Heights' book and started reading.

By the end of the first flight, I had quite a few things written down. Some of which we could do together, some I'd have to do on my own.

 _ **Things to do before graduation:**_

 _ **Learn how to surf.**_

 _ **Give a boy a chance.**_

 _ **Be more sociable.**_

 _ **Focus more on my artwork.**_

 _ **Go on a road trip.**_

 _ **Learn how to cook.**_

 _ **Go to a high school party.**_

 _ **Get a tattoo.**_

 _ **Skip school.**_

 _ **Create a photo album with friends and family.**_

 _ **Learn a form of fighting.**_

 _ **Ride a motorbike.**_

 _ **Go to a bonfire.**_

 _ **Do something I'm afraid of.**_

Now I just had a year and a half to attempt all of them.

 **-x-x-x-**

Once Charlie had picked us up from the airport, it wasn't long before we saw the 'Welcome to Forks' sign.

Looking out the window from the back seat of his police cruiser, I watched as the scenery passed us by.

The tall dark trees reached higher than any others I'd seen, almost blending with the murky sky above. It was already raining, the droplets slowly descending the window, making me feel more at home than I had in a long time.

I suppose there was a very obvious reason that the rain soothed me. I remembered being back in Ireland when I would have been around 5 years old. I used to sit at the front door during thunder storms with my mother, watching as the lightning streaked across the sky. I guess the rain just reminded me of home. I often worried that the memories of Ireland would leave me, and I'd forget everything about it. The deep colour of the ocean off the coast, the cool breeze that brought along the smell of nature.

Hearing the attempts of awkward conversation from the front, I decided to try and help out.

"So, Charlie, did you watch the Patriots game last night? They were playing the Redskins, right?"

"Yeah" Charlie chimed in from the front, his tone letting me know how thankful he was for a topic he had some knowledge on. "Hell of a game, had me on the edge of my seat the whole time; had Billy round to watch it. You remember him, right? Billy Black? I'm sure you met him the last time you came to visit with Bells."

"Yeah, the dude from the reservation, right? He had that kid, not much younger than us. Jason?"

"Jacob."

"Right. How are they doing?" All I really remembered of Jacob was the way he used to follow Bella around constantly, hung onto her every word. It was almost as if he was some kind of puppy.

"They're doing alright, Billy is in a wheelchair now though. They should be coming round for a little while later if you wanted to come say hello?"

"No, it's alright. I'll let Bella get settled and reconnect with them. I have a good year or so to catch up."

As the conversation came to an end, Charlie pulled up to a house with a very familiar car in front of it. It was similar to Bella's, although it was a forest green instead of white. I could see the curtains that I'd had in my room back home through the top front window, letting me know where my room was.

"This is it, Lex." Charlie informed me, getting out to help me with my bag.

"Wow, it really is close." Bella said, "Charlie's house is just there." She informed me, pointing to a house just a few doors down on the other side of the road that I remembered from my previous trips here. "You're going to come over later, right?" She suddenly asked, looking quite panicked.

"Don't worry, Bells. I won't leave you alone to make small talk for long." I smirked, getting out of the car and walking over to the front door where Charlie had already started talking to my dad.

"Lexi-Lou, how was the trip over with Bella?" My dad smiled, pulling me into a hug. He'd called me that my entire life. My middle name was Louise, named after his mother who had passed away.

"It was alright. We were just wondering what it's going to be like living here." I replied, trying to peak behind him into the house "Did you get everything sorted?"

Laughing, he stepped out of my way "Why don't you go take a look?"

"I'll see you later, Charlie." I smiled at him quickly before rushing into the house. It was in the kitchen that I found my mother.

"Hello, love." She greeted me. I had always been quite jealous that she kept her Irish accent. Mine was long gone, but that was to be expected when you move away from home at 6 years old.

"The kitchen looks great." I told her.

When we had first come to look at the house, it had been quite empty, dark and a little crooked. Looking at this kitchen, you wouldn't believe it. Now, the kitchen was all mint green and pale grey counter tops with a wooden effect. They had done their best to go modern. The island in the middle had a few stools around it.

Looking behind her, I looked out into the back garden. There was already a small greenhouse for my mother to grow the flowers that she loved. A small shed that had its door open was in the far right corner, revealing my mother's art supplies. I could see that she had already started painting the forest that was behind Bella's house.

"Are you tired?" My mother asked me, handing me a mug of tea. "You're usually tired after a flight."

"I guess I am a little. I could probably have a small nap before I head over to Bella's. You don't mind if I have dinner there tonight, right?"

"Of course not." She smiled "Your bedroom is upstairs, first door on the left."

"Alright," I said, "Hey, have you heard from Adam?"

"Not since we told him about the move about a month ago…" She said, a worried look crossing her face.

Adam was my older brother. He had joined the army a few years back. I missed him every day, sat at home hoping to hear from him. My mother had tried to talk him out of going, to go to college instead with the sports scholarship… But he'd made up his mind. Every now and then he'd come home for a few weeks, we'd play basketball together and he'd take me somewhere he'd think I'd enjoy. Mostly it would be a nice scenery. We went on long road trips together if he was back during school break.

I sighed, turning to go to my room, hoping that we'd hear from him soon.

Walking past my dad who was just saying goodbye to Charlie, I headed upstairs to check out my new room.

The door was slightly ajar, allowing me to already see all of my stuff that had made it over from the old house. Walking in, I looked around at the light grey that graced three of the walls in the room. The back wall, however, was covered in shelves that were filled with books. I often found it hard to go to sleep without reading first, so I had collected a wide range of classic and newer books to help soothe me. Reality was so dull sometimes that I found myself lost in the worlds created by different authors, Alice in Wonderland probably being my favourite.

My bedroom had always been a range of greys, blacks and whites. I wasn't one for colour in my bedroom, it would usually distract me from sleeping.

On my bed, amongst my pillows and fluffy cushions, I saw a slight movement; making me aware of the dog that was curled up sleeping.

My dog was called Pepper. She had followed me home from school one day back in Phoenix. When we discovered that she had no owner, we decided to keep her. She was a small Pomeranian that was light grey with black flecks, reminding me of a tiny wolf. Every now and then, my mother would accidentally leave the gate open, I never panicked cause Pepper always managed to somehow find me; no matter where I was.

I walked through to the en-suite bathroom, planning to have a quick shower before I did anything else. My parents believed it was important for a teenage girl to have her own space, so they sacrificed the bedroom with the private bathroom to me. I was really grateful, knowing that my dad wasn't going to awkwardly walk in on me drying. (That happened before, it was an awful moment and we both liked to pretend it never happened.)

Turning on the bath, I planned to relax for a good while before I had to go see Bella.

 **-x-x-x-**

At Bella's house later on, we discussed our plan for our first day at Forks High School. We had eaten pizza with her father downstairs for dinner, having a conversation about the new truck that he'd gotten Bella. It was nice to see Bella's mood lifted as she spoke about the rusty old thing out front. She'd always loved that kind of vehicle, never one for the fancy cars. Charlie had made a smart move. I was happy to see that she was starting to warm to at least a part of Forks already.

"Well, Charlie got me that truck." Bella started as we walked into her room, "Seen as you don't drive, I could give you a lift in the morning."

"Ah, the emotional bribery." I commented about the truck, gaining a slight glare. "I'd very much appreciate it." I said, laying down on her bed. "I think it's best for you to do that every day… I don't think the greatest first impression comes from arriving with your parents."

"Well, Jake said that he rebuilt the engine himself. He assured me that it'll run just fine."

"Even though it looks like a death trap?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

She scoffed a laugh as she laid down next to me. "One more dig at my new truck and you're walking every day... Do your parents like it here so far?"

"I guess. My mother is over the moon. She's already drawn and painted like 7 different sceneries from what she's shown me." I told her, flipping through a very worn copy of Wuthering Heights. "My dad said that his colleagues are all nice, apparently one of them is the best doctor he's seen in a long time."

"Which one?"

"I don't know, he didn't say his name and I forgot to ask." I shrugged, trying to understand the notes that Bella had written in the book.

"You really think we'll make friends?"

The question took me off guard. I know that the promise of a good time here had been one of the key reasons Bella had agreed to come with me. I'd told her that we'd be better off, that we wouldn't be the social outcasts that we were back in Phoenix. What if I had unknowingly lied to her?

I sighed, really thinking about the best way to answer that question. "I mean… It's a small town, B. You kind of have to get to know everyone, right?"

"I guess. That doesn't mean they have to make friends with newcomers, though."

"Are you kidding? Having new people is an exciting thing in such a small place, everyone will want to get dibs on the new meat." I explained before smirking "Even if they show up in a ragged old truck that no one normal would go anywhere near."

 _Thud._

She'd pushed me off the bed.

 _Thud._

I threw her damn book at her.

 **-x-x-x-**

 **A/N: Alright, let me know what you think.**

 **Thank you to the people who have favourited/followed/reviewed so far.**

 **I'm planning to update this story every Monday, I have multiple chapters already written so you don't have to worry about it randomly cutting off with no ending or having to wait a month or two for each update.**

 **Hope you enjoyed,**

 **~fawningfantasy**


	3. The First Day

**Chapter 3: The First Day**

 **-x-x-x-**

" _There is something different,_

 _About you and I._

 _And I feel like I have known you,_

 _My whole life."_

Bea Miller – Fire N Gold.

 **-x-x-x-**

Golden eyes.

I had dreamt of golden eyes again. Eyes so strange that there was no possible chance I had seen them in the real world.

These eyes haunted my dreams my entire childhood in Ireland. Since moving to Phoenix, I had dreamt of them only a few times over the years. But they had returned last night. I wasn't so sure if that was a good or bad sign for what's to come in Forks, but there was no time to ponder that.

It was strange waking up in my new bedroom in Forks. I hoped that I would get used to waking up with my duvet tucked tightly around me to keep the warmth in, rather than waking up with it on the floor after my sleeping self had shoved it off to cool down during the night. Although, it was wonderful waking up without a thin layer of sweat covering my body.

Getting out of bed and heading into my bathroom to take a quick shower, I thought about Bella warning me not to make another dig at her truck. It basically guaranteed that I would hate the damn thing; that much was obvious.

After my shower, I looked out of the window and saw the trees. The tall deep green view was beautiful to witness; I couldn't be happier that my parents had decided to move to this town. Opening the window, I felt the cool breeze flow past me into my bedroom, the smell of nature following. I couldn't believe that I was finally somewhere the humidity wasn't killing me, where the heat wasn't turning me into a sweaty mess. I already felt like my better self here.

Shutting my window, I decided it was about time to get dressed and go meet Bella for school.

 **-x-x-x-**

So here I was, sat in the passenger's seat of possibly the loudest vehicle in existence.

"It is not that bad." She sighed "You're overreacting."

"How can you not hear it? It's so creaky." I said, looking around as though I'd be able to see the problem from the inside of the truck.

"Well you should have thought of that when you didn't get your driving license." She smirked, "Are okay, Lex? You seem a bit out of it this morning."

"I saw those gold eyes in my dream again." I sighed "I haven't seen them in months."

"What do you think it means?" She asked, turning into the school.

"I honestly have no idea. I don't know the feeling I get with them. It's happiness but… With a mixture of… _Danger._ "

She looked at me with worry, turning off the engine as she parked in an available space. The truck made a loud bang as she finished up, causing students all over the parking lot to turn to us.

"Arriving on the back of an elephant would be more subtle…" I said, my sentence trailing off as I watched the students of Forks High wait to view the new attraction.

As Bella looked around, I could tell she was thinking the same as me. There was already too much attention on us and we had only just arrived. In order for us to get out of the truck, we would have to deal with multiple eyes staring right at us.

"You were right, this was a bad idea." She told me, frozen in her seat.

I sighed, "Well there is no point in stopping now. We've just got to act confident, then people won't stare as much. If we act all awkward then they'll pounce on us like prey."

"How are you so okay with this?"

"I don't know… I just feel like energy is flowing directly into me right now, Bells." I said, looking out the window at a path that was quickly clearing. "And as long as nobody sees us getting out of this dinosaur of a truck, we'll make friends."

"Okay, get out." She said, shoving me towards the door.

"Okay, okay, I'm going."

Getting out of the truck, I felt eyes on me immediately.

Looking down, I took in my attire and wondered what they were all thinking. Were they judging me already? Did my dark green turtleneck make my ginger hair stand out too bright? Were my black skinny jeans so skinny that they made my legs look a weird shape? Did my knee-high boots make me look like I was trying too hard to be taller?

Deciding to not let my mind get the best of me, I stood tall.

Bella hooked her arm through mine. "You realise how much of a bad idea going to a new school is. Why did you even convince me to come?"

"It'll just take some adjustment." I answered, pulling her along at a brisk pace to the office for us to get our schedules. "New rule. We must talk to at least one new person per class."

"I don't like that rule."

"Bummer for you." I said with a smirk.

 **-x-x-x-**

It turned out that we only had English together. We had Biology and Gym at the same time, but were in different classes, much to our disappointment. Our other classes were different. She had chosen: Government, Trigonometry and Spanish. I myself, had chosen Photography for the year, hoping to relax for one period and enjoy some creativity before my final year came. My other two choices were History and AP Chemistry. I loved Science, and I intended to carry on to become a doctor.

In English, Bella and I luckily got to sit together due to two empty seats at the back.

As I heard the bell ring, I had already started to lose faith in my new rule.

Just as I turned to tell Bella that the new rule was off, a boy with swishy black hair and small eyes turned around to smile at us.

"You're the new girls, right?" He asked, "Alexis and Isabella?"

"Bella." My best friend responded, seeming to try and close the conversation before it even started.

But the guy didn't seem to take the hint and decided to be helpful anyway "What's your next class?"

"Government, with Jefferson in building six." Bella responded after rooting around in her bag for her schedule.

"I'm headed to building four, I could show you the way…" He said, making me suddenly feel like I was invisible. "I'm Eric by the way."

"Thanks." Bella said, looking at me a little lost.

"What about you?" He said, turning to me with a bright smile.

"Photography; building eight." I responded.

"Angela is in that class, Miss Thorn, right?" He asked, getting more excited than I thought someone could get at finding out a class schedule. "Angela!" He called, halting a brunette girl with glasses in the doorway.

"What's up?" She asked. By the shy smile she gave, I was guessing Angela wanted a little more than friendship with this Eric guy.

"This is Alexis Hanson, she has next period with you." He said, slightly pushing me in her direction.

"You can just call me Lexi." I informed her, shaking her hand.

"Angela Weber." She smiled, starting to lead the way.

I gave a quick wave goodbye to Bella before starting my task of making a new friend.

"So, what made you pick photography?" I asked.

"I like to stick to the creative subjects" She responded before suddenly taking my picture. "I'm part of the school paper, so I suppose it's close to being my job."

"You don't say..." I said, watching as she came to a halt in the middle of the hall.

She held the camera up to me, showing me the picture "I think this'll be really good for the feature, natural beauty. I prefer candid pictures to poses."

Angela had such a friendly vibe about her that I found it impossible to feel awkward around her. She seemed the type that would come to the defence of anyone, that she wouldn't judge a single person for anything.

"Feature? What feature?" I asked.

"Eric and I will be doing a feature on the two new students; you and Bella, obviously." She informed me. "Not much happens at this school, you're the most exciting thing to happen in two years."

I tried hard to stifle a laugh "Good luck getting Bella on board with that. I feel you may need to go in a different direction."

She sighed as we walked into the classroom. "I really hope not. The paper is starting to get repetitive and I don't think that'll look so good on a college application."

"I'm sure you'll do just fine." I said "You know I like to take polaroids. I hang them up in my room if I really like them, which means that with my lack of skills I only have about three up. You should help me out some time."

"That sounds great" She said with a broad smile, turning her camera screen in my direction to show me some others she had taken before Miss Thorn came in.

 **-x-x-x-**

There was a quick 15-minute break in between second and third period.

Bella and I found each other just outside of the cafeteria.

"So, we've got Eric and Angela so far. I think that counts as two for two classes." I said, trying to be optimistic.

"Technically I didn't talk to anyone in Government." She said with a sigh.

"Well, what have you got next again? Gym, right? We're just in different classes."

"Yeah. I don't think I'll manage to make many friends in there. You know that I'm a disaster." She told me "I don't see why it's mandatory here."

"I know you won't make friends in there, unless someone enjoys being hit in the back of the head with a ball." I snickered.

Hitting my arm lightly with her folder, she looked over at all the different students gathered in their little groups. "How are we meant to merge with these people? They've had years to get to know each other."

"You know, Bells, you and I became friends quite fast." I reminded her "It's not always about time."

"I suppose. Just…" She trailed off looking at her feet "Just don't forget about me, okay?"

Then it suddenly hit me. I was going to come to Forks whether she had agreed to come or not… And I was going to be staying here. Bella wasn't overly concerned with making new friends like I was, cause she wasn't planning on staying past the end of this school year.

She was scared that I was going to forget about her once we didn't live in the same town anymore… Once we didn't live in the same state anymore.

"Bella, we're always going to be friends. You know that right?" I questioned, looking into her eyes intently.

"Yeah." She sighed.

Holding out my pinkie finger, I raised my eyebrows at her expectantly.

"Lex, c'mon, we're not 8 anymore." She complained, but I widened my eyes second by second until she linked her pinkie with mine.

"That's better." I said, lowering my hand. "Now come on. Time for you to break some people in Gym."

She hit me with her folder again, but it didn't stop my laugh.

 **-x-x-x-**

My third class was Gym.

We were apparently doing some track running today. I was feeling quite anxious all of a sudden, standing over at the side hoping to not draw too much attention. Bella and I hadn't known that we would have Gym, so we didn't know that we'd have to bring anything for it. When we were offered some gym clothes to borrow for the period, Bella had quickly snatched the long joggers and plain grey top. I had gotten stuck with bright blue shorts and yellow top, the schools specific gym stuff that you could buy.

Stretching my legs, getting ready to run, a guy jogged up next to me. He was quite tall, dark, I guess slightly handsome.

"You're the new girl." He said, turning towards me.

"One of them, I suppose that's an accurate description of me." I responded, finishing up my stretches.

"You do much sport back at your last school?" He asked, "I try my best to find potential opponents for practice."

"And you just figured I might be one?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sporty legs" He said, pointing downwards "Can spot them a mile off." He laughed "I'm Tyler Crowley. Nice to meet you."

I felt awkward with the knowledge he'd even looked at my legs. But the smile on his face seemed genuine, so I tried my best to push my negative thoughts aside and attempt conversation.

"It's nice to meet you too." I smiled, shaking the hand he'd offered. "Is everyone in Forks this nice and welcoming?"

"Mostly," his eyes wandered over to the side as his sentence trailed off into nothing.

Looking over, I saw a group of three students. They were all extremely pale, from where I was standing I couldn't really get a good look at them. I wondered why they were allowed to just sit on the bleachers for the lesson, seemed quite lazy to me. It's just running, hell you could just jog or walk around if you wanted.

"Who are they?" I asked.

"The Cullens. There's five of them in total. They mostly just keep to themselves." He told me, getting into position to run.

"Why is that?"

"Nobody knows. They moved here two years ago and just didn't bother making friends. When people have tried they've just been shut down."

"You get rejected by one?" I smirked.

"No." He scoffed, looking anywhere but at me. When he finally realised that I wasn't going to stop staring at him, he caved "The small one… Alice."

Laughing, I got into the same position as him. "Race to the finish line?"

"You're on newbie."

 **-x-x-x-**

Tyler and I seemed to hit it off quite easily.

When he told me that he had History next, I got quite excited at the idea of having him as a friend in more than just gym. However, my mood swiftly disintegrated when he informed me that he had a different teacher.

"Don't worry about it." He told me as we made our way to the correct building. "Looking at your schedule, we have Biology together last period."

"At least that's something. I made a new rule that Bella and I needed a new friend in each class." I told him "I was kind of hoping I could cheat and just have you."

He laughed before turning towards his classroom door. "You could always try and switch to this class, you know. We could hold hands." He said, widening his eyes in a clearly mocking way.

"Well aren't you dreamy." I said sarcastically, walking backwards so I could still see him.

He seemed to be amused until my last step, his eyes grew worried.

It was then that my back seemed to hit a cold wall.

Turning round, I realised that it wasn't a wall, but a person. "I'm so sorry." I started, not yet looking up from the guy's chest. "I should have been looking where I was going."

Looking up, I saw gold. His eyes were _golden_. I found myself to be quite mesmerised by the strange colour, the exact colour from my dreams. How was this possible?

The other students around us seemed to stop, causing me to break out of my thoughts. "Erm, sorry… Again." I said, finally registering that he was still just a guy, no matter the colour of his eyes. "Are you okay?" I asked, seeing the confusion that graced his features.

I stood there, soaking in everything about him. He had blonde hair that was close to the colour of honey, slightly curled at the ends. Pale skin that could easily be compared to snow. He was tall, with strong shoulders. He looked muscular in a way that half the guys in my Gym class would envy.

"Jasper." A small brunette girl, who looked much like a pixie, placed a hand on his arm.

Glancing over at me, her facial expression went blank, as though her mind had gone to a completely different place. In a few seconds, that look was replaced by a beaming smile.

"Sorry about my brother, he's still learning manners." She said to me, slightly tugging on Jasper's arm.

"It's fine." I replied, starting to follow the other students into the classroom "I really am sorry." I said once more, before turning away.

I ended up at a desk alone in the back corner, right behind the two incredibly pale students; their eye colour causing me concern.

Throughout the class, I couldn't help but notice that Jasper guy slightly turning his head as though trying to see me from the corner of his eye. I didn't know what I'd done that was so strange he felt the need to keep an eye on me. I had bumped into him by accident. Back at my school in Phoenix, that was a common thing. There were so many students that you simply couldn't avoid crashing into people as you walked around every corner.

I felt my thoughts start to swirl around in my mind. The golden eyes, the strange way he reacted to me, everything was overwhelming me. It started feeling slightly painful to breathe. I fiddled with the pen in my hand, trying to my best to just calm down and focus on anything else than what just happened. As I felt my head getting heavier with worry, my eyes locked with golden ones once again.

And I felt calm. The feeling of panic long gone, as though it had never even existed.

And then he looked away again.

When we were given work, him and the small girl seemed to get into an intense conversation. I couldn't help but wonder if she was scolding him for how he was acting. Then again, if it were that, I saw no reason as to why he'd be arguing with her; unless he was just an ass.

As the lesson came to an end, I got out of my seat as swiftly as I possibly could and made a b-line for the door. As I rushed out, I could feel eyes burning into the back of my head.

I was grateful that it was lunch next. I needed to talk to Bella.

I wondered if she'd had any strange interactions yet.

 **-x-x-x-**

 **A/N: So, there was the first slight interaction.**

 **It will obviously be explained at some point as to why she's had dreams. You're going to have to keep reading to find out.**

 **I'll be trying to give her interactions with more than just Jasper. When I read stories and it seems like the only person they talk to is the romantic interest, I get bored quite quick. She needs to have some sort of life outside of Jasper.**

 **Again, feel free to leave a review so I know if people are still interested. I know sometimes people follow a story then just can't be bothered to unfollow even if they aren't interested in reading anymore.**

 **Thanks,**

 **~fawningfantasy**


	4. Strange Stares

**Chapter 4: Strange Stares**

 **-x-x-x-**

" _We all are living in a dream,_

 _But life ain't what it seems,_

 _Oh, everything's a mess."_

Imagine Dragons – Dream

 **-x-x-x-**

As I had left History, Tyler had been waiting outside of the building to invite me to his table for lunch. Luckily for me, Bella had been invited to the same table by a couple of students that she'd met in Gym and Spanish.

Bella introduced me to them while we waited in the lunch line. Their names were Mike and Jessica. Just from a few moments with the pair, I could tell that Jessica was interested in a lot more than friendship with Mike; although he seemed more interested in Bella.

It turns out that Bella had hit lucky and found a guy who actually _did_ like getting hit in the head with a ball; good for her.

Sitting down at the table with Jessica talking about how the two of us were shiny new toys for the guys at Forks High, a flash went off, seemingly catching Bella of guard.

"Sorry" Angela said, "Needed a candid for the feature."

Ah, the feature. I remembered Angela mentioning it, but Bella had told me that she had managed to convince Eric not to go ahead with it. Maybe he misunderstood-

"Feature's dead, Angela. Don't bring it up again." Eric cut in quite rudely. "I got your back, baby." He said, turning to Bella before wandering off.

"Guess we'll just run another editorial on teen drinking." Angela said, sounding pretty disappointed.

"Sorry" Bella apologised "You know there's always eating disorders?" She offered, and it didn't slip past me that Jessica then put down the food she was eating, looking quite awkward. "Or, Speedo padding on the swim team."

With that I snickered "I noticed that too." I said, taking a bite out of an apple. "I wonder how many socks those guys go through."

Angela laughed "Actually, that's a good one."

I turned to talk to Bella but noticed her attention had been taken elsewhere. Looking over I saw a group of students who all looked extremely alike start walking into the cafeteria. I was sure it was the students Tyler had told me about. Amongst them was that Jasper guy and the small pixie girl.

"Who are they?" Bella asked.

"The Cullens." Angela informed us.

I watched as a light went on in Jessica's eyes as the need to gossip overcame her. "Doctor and Mrs. Cullen's foster kids. They all moved down here from Alaska two years ago."

"They kind of keep to themselves." Angela supplied.

"Yeah, because they're all together." Jessica piped up "Like, _together_ together."

"Only two of them are." Angela argued.

"Tell me that Jasper and Alice don't have something going on. They're just not as obvious." Jessica pushed.

I don't know why I felt a dull pain at the idea of Jasper being in a relationship with the small girl who I now believed to be Alice. I had only just met the pair at the beginning of last period, if you could even count it as meeting them. Then again, Alice had referred to him as her brother, so I was quite sure that Jessica was just hoping for more gossip.

"The blonde girl, Rosalie, and the big dark-haired guy, Emmett…" she trailed off allowing us to look at who she was talking about.

The 'blonde girl' as she put it was extremely beautiful. As in model, guys would probably offer to die for her, beautiful. She walked with a strut, letting you know that she knew exactly how attractive she was. Looking around, you could see the guys drooling over her as she walked by them, wishing that the 'big dark-haired guy' wasn't around.

And the big guy was exactly that, _big._ Like, he was _huge_. Emmett Cullen looked like the most intimidating figure that you could possibly imagine. That was, until you got to his face; an immensely attractive face with a cheeky grin. He looked as though he would optionally be everyone's best friend. So, the idea that he didn't was quite strange to me.

"They're like a thing" Jessica chimed back in "I'm not even sure that's legal."

"Jess, they're not actually related." Angela laughed.

"Yeah, but they live together, it's weird." She squirmed. "And the little dark-haired girl, Alice, she's really weird."

Alice seemed almost like a ballerina. She was completely graceful and appeared to skip rather than walk. Again, the bright smile on her face threw me, I would have guessed that she would have been popular and friendly if I had just passed her in the hallway.

"And I am _sure_ that she's with Jasper, the blonde one who looks like he's in pain."

Turning my head to yet again see Jasper, my breathe caught in my throat. She was right, he did look like he was in pain. And for some reason, I had this deep need to make whatever pain he was feeling go away. He wasn't quite as tall as Emmett, nor as bulky, but he was unquestionably the most attractive guy at Forks High. He was beautiful.

"Why are you so sure that they're a couple?" I asked, turning back to her.

"They're always together, it's like he's latched onto her. There is no way that they aren't a thing." She told me, her voice picking up pace as she got more and more excited. "That and he's shown no interest in any of the girls here. Doctor Cullen's like this foster dad slash match maker."

"Maybe he'll adopt me." Angela chimed in.

So far, Jessica was reminding me why I usually found it so hard to talk to new people. She relished in gossip and being able to judge people who she hardly knew. Her eyes were filled with envy and rejection. I was starting to think that she'd tried to make some kind of move on Jasper and had been shut down.

Angela was just furthering my opinion of her being kind. She was trying to stand up for these students who didn't even acknowledge her existence as they walked by.

"Who's he?" I heard Bella ask, causing me to turn and look at the last Cullen to walk into the room.

"That's Edward Cullen. He's totally gorgeous, obviously. But apparently, no one here is good enough for him. Like I care." Jessica supplied, her tone conveying that he had also rejected her at some point before our arrival.

To be honest, I just thought he looked broody, as though he was ready to lecture you on why you should be home on time to avoid the dangers in the world. But when it comes to Jessica, I can't say I blamed him for rejecting her.

With that Edward seemed to smirk in our direction, as though he had heard one of us say something amusing.

"Anyway," Jessica starts, noticing at the same time as me that Bella was staring over her shoulder at him "Don't waste your time."

"I wasn't planning on it." Bella scoffed, turning back to give a quick glance back at Edward.

"So transparent." I whispered, causing Bella to elbow me in the side. " _Ow._ " Rude.

As I glanced back at the table the Cullens were sitting at, I noticed that Jasper was staring at me with a confused glare again.

It made me feel uneasy, not knowing what I had done to make him so angry and confused. I wasn't going to apologise again, I'd already done so three times. I figured that the wisest course of action was to leave him the hell alone.

But once again, as our eyes locked, my discomfort dwindled, and I felt calm again.

What was it about this guy?

"Are you okay?" Bella asked me in a whisper.

"I'll talk to you about it after school…" I said, not wanting Jessica to listen in on our conversation.

I didn't quite understand why I felt so calm when it came to the Cullens. A deeper part of me screamed that they weren't normal. Not that they were just weird, but _actually_ strange. As though they weren't human, they were some kind of monster. But that was insane…

Monsters didn't really exist.

 **-x-x-x-**

For my fifth period, I made my way over to Chemistry with Eric.

I found myself quite fortunate that I'd have at least a single friend in most of my lessons. In History I would just have to stay at the back and keep to myself. The only students close to me during that period were Jasper and Alice; I doubted they would want anything to do with me. And so far, I definitely wanted nothing to do with them.

"Why'd you choose to do two sciences anyway?" Eric asked me as I handed my slip of paper to the teacher.

"My father." I answered as we headed over to his desk "He's a doctor, and he seems to really enjoy it most days. Seeing the look on his face when he gets home after he's saved lives… It's amazing. I want that feeling, you know? Knowing that I've helped people. I can't imagine anything better." I explained.

"So, your goal is doctor?"

"Yeah. What about you? You seem pretty smart, what's your overall goal?"

"Honestly, I'm just focused on being valedictorian. I'll figure out what I want to do after I've gotten the best grades I can get. I'm thinking maybe a lawyer, that's usually a good job, right?" He responded.

"Don't feel rushed to choose." I said "You should do what you love. You don't want to guess and then end up miserable at a job that you hate."

"I suppose you're right. I guess I still have a little while." He said with a smile, bringing out his books for the lesson.

Looking over at the door, I watched as two of the Cullens came into the classroom. It was Emmett and Jasper. The poor boy still looked like he was in pain, and it still sent me into a whirlwind of emotions.

Then something strange happened, like the whole day wasn't strange enough at this point. As Emmett walked past the table, Jasper stopped right next to me. He froze so fast it was as though he was literally unable to move.

Looking up, he was staring right at me again, the look of confusion still set on his face. The pained look was nowhere to be seen, his dark eyes seeming to stare deep into my soul. I saw him move ever so slightly towards me, taking a deep breath as he did so, was he _smelling_ me? I could only assume that my expression mirrored his in this moment. But for some reason, staring into his eyes, I felt this sudden rush of emotion. I felt protective, possessive even. As though he was what I'd been searching for my entire life. I had this intense urge that I _needed_ to be around him.

" _Jazz._ " I heard the gruff voice of his brother cut in.

It was like a spell had been broken, the deep stare ended, and the feelings that had overcome me were now completely gone. We both turned to look at Emmett Cullen.

"Come on." He said, gesturing to the spare seat next to him.

Jasper appeared reluctant to move over to his seat, but he did. _Right behind us._

"What the hell was that?" Eric whispered to me.

"How the hell should I know? It's my first day," I whispered back "I have no idea how any of them are supposed to act... That wasn't normal?"

" _No._ They don't even acknowledge that people are in the same room as them most of the time." He explained, subtly looking back at the two siblings. "He's looking at you really weird, Lex."

"Can we talk about _anything_ else?" I pleaded.

I needed to find out why this guy had such a strange reaction to me... If I ever gained the guts to confront him.

 **-x-x-x-**

As I left the classroom, heading for Biology, I couldn't help but wonder what the hell I could have done to gain such a reaction. Surely it couldn't have been me bumping into him. Was there something on my face that nobody else had the guts to tell me about? What was it that was so confusing about me?

Tyler had met me outside the door, saying how I could sit next to him due to an empty seat.

As we arrived at the classroom, everyone was grouped outside.

"Everyone just stay here a second. I think there's been just a bit too much chatter in class." The teacher, Mr Whitmore, announced. "From today onwards, you'll be in a new seating plan."

"Any chance you think we'll still end up next to each other?" I asked Tyler, the panic clear in my tone.

"Don't worry. We should be close enough, I can't see him being so bland as to put us in alphabetical order."

I truly hoped that he didn't. Tyler's last name was Crowley, so I knew I wouldn't be anywhere near him.

But that's exactly what he did.

"Miss Hanson, welcome. You'll be sat at that desk over there in the back corner on the left, next to Mr Hale."

As I turned towards the desk, I saw the open seat next to none other than Jasper Cullen. Or Hale? Why would his name be different to his siblings? Tyler had been put just a few desks in front of me, next to Alice Cullen... The one he told me had rejected him. Awkward.

Sitting down, I could literally _feel_ Jasper's gaze on me. I almost wanted to ask him what was wrong. I wanted to know why he seemed to be acting so weird. So far, my first day was awfully strange. I couldn't help but wonder if Bella's was going any better. Maybe she'd managed to actually stay with her new-found friends in her classes. I knew she had Jessica in Spanish, but I had no idea if she had anyone in her other two. Maybe she was just as unlucky as I was.

As the lesson passed by, it felt like hours; if not days. Thankfully, we hadn't needed to work together in any way yet, but as my mind fell back onto the focus of Jasper Hale, I realised that he'd managed to move closer until there was only a few centimetres between us. How had he even managed to do that without me realising?

Glancing at him, I saw that his focus was still on me. And for a second it looked like he was away to say something.

Then the bell rang.

I was up within less than a second, heading to the door.

I could hear Tyler trying to call out to me, trying to catch up with me; but I didn't care.

I _needed_ to see Bella.

 **-x-x-x-**

Weaving through the crowd of students that filled the hallway, I knew that Bella's classroom had to be close.

I needed to talk to her. I needed to make sure I wasn't being insane and that everything that just happened was _bizarre._ She had already taken such an interest in that Edward guy, surely, she must have felt something similar to what I did? Maybe she would understand. Then I saw a girl with brunette hair awkwardly move through the hall. I almost felt anxious, trying so hard to navigate my way towards the girl that I knew was Bella. I knew the back of her head like the back of my hand.

"Bella!" I called.

She looked relieved as she turned around and came up to me. "Hey, Lex, can we go to the office real quick before we head home?"

"Yeah, of course." I answered, trying to come up with the right way to ask about the Cullens.

"Do I smell weird?" She asked randomly.

That caught me off guard. "What? What are you talking about?"

She looked down at her feet as we walked, seeming embarrassed. "I don't know. I just thought I might smell bad today."

I humoured her and took a quick sniff. "I can't smell anything bad, Bells. You just smell like your strawberry shampoo. Why do you ask?"

We walked through the doors to the office as she went to answer, but she stopped short. Following her gaze, I saw none other than Edward Cullen talking to the administrator.

"There must be something open sixth period. Physics? Biochem?" I heard him ask.

"No, every class is full. I'm afraid you'll have to stay in Biology. I'm so sorry." The kind old woman replied. To be fair, she did seem genuinely apologetic.

From my side I heard Bella scoff in disbelief.

As if he sensed her presence, Edward turned towards Bella and _glared._ His eyes were filled with what I could only describe as pure hatred. It was as though she was his arch nemesis. What had happened over the past two periods that I didn't know about that could cause such a reaction?

"Fine." Edwards seemed to struggle to get the words out "I'll just… Have to endure it." With that, he stormed out of the office slightly nudging into me on his way out.

As his shoulder quickly collided with mine and image flashed in my mind. It was the day of my grandmother's funeral. My father had been crying, heartbroken at the loss of his mother. I had only been 8 years old. I had touched her hand as a final goodbye, the skin cold and almost wax like.

As my mind returned to the present day, Bella stormed out of the office. I quickly followed after her, trying to piece together why she was so angry.

"Bella, what's going on?" I asked as we made our way out into the parking lot. "Bella?"

"Can we just go home?" She sighed, it almost sounded as if she was trying not to cry.

Arriving at her truck, Bella had jumped in and slammed the door shut. I cautiously got in beside her, placing a hand on her arm.

"Bells? Are you alright?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"He's just a jerk." She sighed angrily.

"What happened?" I decided that my thing could definitely wait.

"I don't even know." She admitted, handing me her bag to hold. "When I walked into Biology, he acted as though I smelt like a garbage can. Then the second the bell rang he practically ran out of the room." She finished, starting up the engine.

Looking out of the window, I watched as Edward got into a silver Volvo and slammed the door. What is with these Cullens?

"Well you know what Jessica said, the Cullens keep to themselves. She made it incredibly clear that she got turned down by him." I said, trying to say anything I could to make her feel better. "He's probably just pissed that he has to sit near anybody."

"You really think so?" She asked.

"Well it would probably explain my day. That Jasper has been _odd_. He keeps staring at me as though I've done something." I said, looking down at my hands playing with the strap of her bag.

"Yeah, well did he move so far away from you that he was actually on the edge of his seat?" She asked with a scoff. Obviously, Edward had done that to her.

"Actually, the opposite." I explained "It was like he inched closer every second. I didn't even notice until he was basically almost touching me."

Starting up the engine, Bella turned to me "I think we're going to have to get answers tomorrow."

As the truck pulled out of the space, I looked over at where the Cullen's were parked. My green eyes locking with his golden ones yet again.

With his strange glares and his apparent lack of respect for human boundaries, Jasper Hale was a mystery to me.

I hated mysteries.

 **-x-x-x-**

Eating with my parents that night, I couldn't help but think about the palest students at Forks High.

Remembering what Jessica had said, I realised that there was a good chance that Doctor Cullen worked with my dad.

"Dad?" I asked, shifting the food on my plate around.

"Yes, dear?" He asked through his mouthful of food.

"Do you know a Doctor Cullen?"

His eyes seemed to light up "Why, yes." He told me "Do you not remember me telling you about that doctor at work? He's incredible. One of the greatest doctors I've come across so far." As he ate another bite of his food, he looked at me with curiosity. "Why do you ask?"

"His children just seem kind of strange is all. They don't seem to interact with anyone." I told him "If they do, they act… I don't know how to describe it…" I said, trailing off. "They act like they have no social skills."

"Really?" He asked "Well, I heard they haven't been here very long." He said, placing his knife and fork down on his now empty plate. "You weren't the most social person back in Phoenix, were you Lex?"

Looking down, I couldn't exactly argue. People had tried to get to know me, but short of small talk I didn't really attempt anything back.

"Give them a chance, Lex. Maybe you could try talking to them?" He suggested "You said you wanted to make new friends here, why not give them a friend too?"

I chose not to mention the peculiar stares that Jasper had been giving me half the day. I didn't understand it myself, I didn't need my father bringing it up with Doctor Cullen and starting something unnecessary.

My father was a kind man, constantly putting others before himself. He was my role model in that way, I tried to be open minded, to be kind. Maybe it was just the reputation that the Cullens had that made me weary of them.

But my gut was telling me something different. My gut was telling me to run.

"Lexi, dear, are you alright?" My mother asked, placing a hand on mine.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I put on a smile to try and ease her worry "Dad's right, I'm probably making a snap judgement. I should give them a chance."

"That's my girl." He grinned, ruffling my hair as he stood up.

 **-x-x-x-**

"Edward's were almost black." Bella told me.

She had come over after dinner to talk to me about the Cullens. I had asked her about his eye colour, trying to figure everything out. In the cafeteria I had noticed that most of their eyes were golden. For adopted siblings they seemed to have a lot in common; it made no sense.

"You think it has something to do with your dreams?" She asked.

"Well, I don't know. Jasper's are the _exact_ eyes that I've seen, I'm so sure of it... But I just don't think that's possible…" I responded. "How is it possible to dream about someone you've never met before?"

"Did you talk to your parents about it?"

"My dad doesn't need to know, he works with their dad, it would probably just cause a whole mess that I don't need to deal with."

"What about your mom?"

I sighed "Bella, it was hard enough to open up to _you_ about my dreams. My parents would probably think I need psychiatric help."

She sat down on the bed next to me, she had been pacing around trying to piece things together. "Why would they both have weird reactions to us? We've only just gotten here."

"I don't know, Bella. But something is wrong, I can _feel_ it." I told her "I just can't explain any of this. _None_ of it makes _any_ sense."

"I'll try and ask Charlie about them." She said, flopping back onto my bed. "You want to come over for dinner tomorrow?"

"Well if anyone is going to know if they've caused trouble it'll be the chief of police." I said, lying next to her. "I suppose I can join you, my parents won't mind."

"I say that before that we confront them tomorrow. Deal?" She asked me.

"My plan is to just avoid." I sighed, "I'm not ready to face the reality that I've dreamed about some guy I've never seen before."

She nodded her head in understanding.

 **-x-x-x-**

 _The golden eyes in my dreams now belonged to a face. The face of Jasper Hale._

 _He seemed to walk with grace, with purpose. Looking down, I noticed that we were holding hands, that we were walking together. And I felt happy. He himself looked ecstatic._

 _A flourish of images seemed to pass through my mind at once._

 _Flashing images of him smirking, laughing, happy, swiftly changed to darker images. Until everything paused, his eyes pitch black, teeth bared as he lunged towards me._

Gasping, I grabbed at my throat, realising that I was safely in my bedroom.

Looking at the clock on my bedside table, I saw that it was 2am.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead, getting out of bed and walking over to my bathroom. I flicked the light on, hoping that some light would erase the images that circled in my head.

Looking up at the mirror, I saw blood streaking down my neck. A scream caught in my throat as I swiftly rubbed at my neck, looking down to see that there was nothing there. Checking myself in the mirror again, I saw nothing. There was no blood, no wound, no cut… Nothing.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I came to terms with the fact I may be going mad. I was seeing things. I had no idea what was happening to me, but it couldn't be good. And I had no idea who to go to… I had no idea who could possibly help me.

After washing my face, I sniffled as I got back into bed. The day had already been so hard to get through. All I could think about was the fact I would have to go back to school tomorrow. I didn't want to.

What else will happen tomorrow?

 **-x-x-x-**

 **A/N: I know I said I'd update on Mondays but I'm obviously useless at being patient. So, I'm not going to put a specific day anymore. I'm going to upload at least once I week, but possibly more if I can. They won't come out ridiculously fast like once a day because then I'll catch up to where I've written to just a** _ **bit**_ **too fast.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Leave a review so I know what you think.**

 **Thanks,**

 **~fawningfantasy**


	5. Losing My Mind

**Chapter 5: Losing My Mind**

 **-x-x-x-**

" _Never thought I'd say I could go insane,_

 _Till I saw your eyes._

 _And I had to take another look to know for sure,_

 _That you could be for real."_

Daughtry – Losing My Mind

 **-x-x-x-**

I spent the next morning avoiding every mirror in the house.

I was terrified that I would see something similar to the night before. How was I supposed to get through the day knowing I would have to sit next to Jasper Hale by the end of it; the picture of his demon like face lunging at me constantly replaying in my mind.

My mother had spent the morning trying to understand what was wrong with me, but I couldn't possibly tell her. She wouldn't understand, she would worry, and I just wanted everything to go back to normal.

"Seriously, Lex, what's wrong with you?" My mother asked.

"Nothing, really." I responded, my eyes glued to the floor. "Just bad dreams, that's all."

"You're sure there's nothing more than that?"

I looked up into her eyes, her look intense. She looked as though she wanted to ask me something specific but couldn't find the words.

"I've got to go meet Bella for school, if I wait any longer we'll be late." I said, moving past her, needing to get out the door before she could ask me anything else.

 **-x-x-x-**

Bella had spent the entire ride to school reminding me of how she was going to confront Edward, how she was going to demand to know what his issue was with her. I had half a mind to warn her to stay away from him, but I wasn't prepared to explain my reasoning.

It turned out I didn't have to; Edward never showed.

Standing at Bella's truck, she had started reading her book 'Wuthering Heights' for the hundredth time. I, however, chose to throw a ball back and forth with Tyler.

"He might be ill, Bella." I said, turning to her after my last throw. "Maybe that was why he looked so weird yesterday." It was a theory, a pretty terrible theory, but I thought it may make her feel better.

I watched as the other Cullens went up the stairs towards the school, all of them glancing back at us as they went. The unsettling feeling that had overcome me most of the previous day returned as I caught Jasper's gaze again, only to be replaced by the ever so confusing calm.

It was no longer a confused glare, but a look of curiosity that graced his eyes. I didn't know which one was worse.

"There's no way it's a coincidence." She said, looking back at me as I came back to my senses. "You have to admit that it's kind of odd, Lex."

"We've got to get to English, Bella." I said as the bell rang, signalling the start of school. "We're already going to be late and it's only our second day." I didn't particularly want to talk about the Cullens just now. There was something off about them, and after last night, I was pretty sure I never wanted to know what it was.

"Do you think he'll be here tomorrow?" She asked, "He's skipping school because of me, I know it."

"Some would say you're being extremely full of yourself, B." I told her, sitting down in my seat. "I _genuinely_ think he's just ill."

"Well that doesn't explain why Jasper was acting strange around you." She whispered as Mike sat down on the other side of her. "You were just as convinced as I was last night, what aren't you telling me?"

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Nothing." I cut in before Bella could say anything. "We're just starting to understand why people think the Cullens are strange."

"They're freaks, I'm telling you." He started "You would think that in the two years they've been here that they would have at least _attempted_ to make _some_ friends."

"I guess we'll never know why." I replied, looking at Bella who was glaring at her book.

I could tell that she wasn't going to let it go. If Edward knew what was good for him, he'd stay as far away as possible.

 **-x-x-x-**

In photography, we were split into two groups. One group would go out to take photographs, the other would stay inside to read up on the theory of it all. Then half way through the hour, the two groups would switch. Much to my dismay, Angela had been put into the other group.

As I sat in the back corner of the room, I figured I'd be able to sit quietly for the rest of the first half of the lesson, when I felt someone sit down next to me. Looking up, I saw Alice Cullen smiling sweetly.

"Hi there." She started, her voice sounding quite similar to the noise of a windchime. "I'm Alice. You looked lonely."

"Alexis." I said, feeling awkward in the exchange with the fact she didn't put a hand out to shake in welcome.

"I understand how hard it can be, being a new student in Forks. I think I could help you settle in." She smiled "So, why did you move here?"

I was quite confused at this point, I had been told countless times that the Cullens don't talk to anybody. Why was it this rule didn't apply to me all of a sudden? My dad's words rang through my ears, telling me to give her a chance. I attempted to push the picture of Jasper to the back of my mind and have an actual conversation with her.

"My dad got a job." I told her "My mom loves the rain, she loves nature and the scenery of Forks. So, my dad wanted to make her happy, he applied for a job here straight away."

"He works at the hospital with my dad, right?" She shifted to grab a book herself, bringing it to the table. "Carlisle was telling us about him, apparently he's been a real help since he joined."

"Yeah, well he loves his job. He constantly talks about the bravery of his patients, how they give him hope for the future." I found it easy to talk about my parents, I genuinely loved and admired them both. I also found it quite easy to talk to Alice, she gave off such a friendly vibe that it was hard not to get drawn into it.

I could see why Tyler had made a move.

After years of closing myself off to people, it was nice to finally meet so many genuinely nice people. It was nice to make friends outside of Bella, not that she wasn't enough, she was. But it was reassuring to know that when she eventually leaves to live with her mother, I wouldn't be alone.

Looking into Alice's eyes, she looked happy. She was smiling as though her mind had already been made up and she was going to be my friend.

Then she blinked. Her eyes turned red.

I gasped, blinking rapidly in surprise. But her eyes were back to being golden.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself as I felt negative thoughts enter my mind again.

"Carlisle is the same way, he couldn't possibly be anything other than a doctor." She responded, her smile fading by the end of the sentence. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I lied, "I'm fine. Just tired, I had a hard time sleeping last night." I explained, settling on a half-truth, before turning back to the book in my hand.

We sat in a semi-comfortable silence for a few minutes before I gained the courage to ask her what had been on my mind all day. She gave the impression of being the friendliest of the Cullens, so if I was going to get anything out of any of them, it would probably be her. "Hey, is your brother okay?"

"Edward had to go out of town for personal reasons. Family stuff." She smiled.

"I wasn't asking about Edward." I suddenly felt like this was an awful idea. This was embarrassing. "It's just that… Your brother Jasper seemed to act strangely around me yesterday. I was just wondering if I'd done something wrong..."

"Oh." The look in her eyes told me that she was holding something back. "He's fine. He just isn't used to being around many people… He was home schooled for a long time."

The hesitance in her words made me wonder what she was keeping to herself. Maybe there was more to the Cullens than just being outcasts at school after all, but what was it? Surely they couldn't actually be a danger to anyone, they wouldn't have made it into the school. They couldn't be spies, there was nothing interesting happening in Forks… And monsters weren't real.

"You should sit with us in History." She said, breaking me out of my thoughts. "There's plenty of room at our table, you shouldn't have to sit alone."

I had the immediate urge to refuse her. To come up with some excuse as to why I couldn't possibly do such a thing. But my father's request echoed through my mind once more, telling me to give them a chance, that there was the possibility that I'd let other's opinions cloud my judgement of the Cullens.

"Sure, that'd be great." I told her, gaining a bright smile in return.

"I know you'll like Jasper, once you actually get to know him." She told me, her eyes filled with mirth, as though she truly believed what she'd said.

Not long after, Miss Chapman came back into the room, informing us that it was time to switch.

Heading outside, I lost track of where Alice had gone. It seemed to me that she had just disappeared.

The first picture I had decided to take was of the trees, a layer of frost starting to coat the deep green bristles. I hoped that snow would swiftly follow, never having seen it in my time at Phoenix. I loved the idea of making snowmen, snow angels, snowballs. Hopefully this would be the time to see it.

Looking around for anything else I found interesting enough to photograph, my eyes drifted to a classroom close by.

Raising the camera to my eye, I looked through to the subject of my new photo. The pale skin, the honey coloured hair, the image of perfection to most people. His golden coloured eyes were staring off into the tree line, seemingly in a daze.

As I stared down at the screen after the picture was taken, I couldn't help but realise that I was quite anxious for History later. Knowing that I may just be able to start understanding the mystery that was Jasper Hale.

Glancing back at the classroom, I noticed that Jasper's gaze had wondered over to me.

I didn't know what it was, but whenever I knew I had his attention, I found it difficult to breathe. I didn't understand why someone I hardly knew, someone I had never _really_ met, had such an effect on me. I felt ridiculous. No-one at my old school had made me feel the way that he did; uneasy and calm all at once. It was as though my mind had lost its balance, unable to function as it usually would.

I chose to move to an area that was no longer visible to him. As I went round a corner, I glanced back, Jasper's eyes still watching me from afar.

 **-x-x-x-**

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong yet?" Bella asked as I sat down next to her at break.

She had found me in a pretty secluded area of the school, an area I had previously been sure I'd get some alone time with my thoughts. I should have known that Bella wouldn't give up until she had found me.

"It's nothing, Bella." I lied again, "I just had bad dreams last night, it's made me too tired to try and understand anything today." It was quite sad that I was getting used to this lie, maybe I was trying to convince myself more than others that everything was okay.

"What were they about?" She asked, curiosity clear on her face.

"Just random stuff. Monsters, aliens, bad guys." I sighed, hoping that she would just drop it, knowing that she probably wouldn't. "Really, Bella, everything is alright."

"You're not telling me something." She stated. "You know you'll tell me eventually."

"Well then if I _am_ hiding something, you can rest easy knowing you'll find out someday." I replied with a tired smile. "I should be sitting near Alice and Jasper in History, I'll let you know if Edward comes up." It was a long shot, but I hoped that the change of subject would work.

"Why are you sitting with them?"

"Alice spoke to me in photography." I told her, seeing the surprise in her eyes "It shocked me too. She said that Edward went out of town for family reasons by the way, I told you it had nothing to do with you."

"You really think she'd have told you otherwise?" She scoffed, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"I suppose." I sighed, hoping that I could somehow change the conversation. "So, what's up with Mike? He follows you around like he's attached to you with string."

"Don't get me started, I hope it's just something that'll last a couple of days until he gets over the whole 'new girl' thing." She had started playing with her fingers, letting me know she felt awkward about the whole situation. I was just glad I'd gotten her off the Cullen family for a little while.

"You can just hope he gives up before a dance comes along, I don't know if you'll have the grace to let someone down easy." I laughed.

The panicked look that she gave me made me laugh harder.

"Don't even joke about that kind of stuff" She stuttered out "You know how bad I am with dancing."

"Right" I snickered "Who could ever forget ballerina Bella?"

"Oh God." She sighed, placing her head in her hands. "I thought we promised to never speak of that again, it was so bad."

"You truly sucked ass." I could feel my cheeks hurt at the memory "I think that was when we finally came to terms with how utterly ungraceful you are."

"At least I'll never have to do that again." She said with a small embarrassed smile as the bell for third period rang. "Ugh."

"Speaking of how clumsy you are." I smirked "You ready for your second day of Gym?"

 **-x-x-x-**

"Alexis!" I heard the cheerful tone of Alice's voice as I entered History later that day. "Right here." She gestured to the seat next to her.

The strange thing, I found, was that it was in between her and Jasper. I had figured when she'd invited me to sit with them that it would be next to her - against the wall.

Walking past the other students in the classroom, they stared at me with a mixture of confusion and slight resentment. I was starting to think that taking my father's advice was the wrong thing to do, I could feel the anxiety rising within me. What if becoming friends with the Cullens guaranteed that you would become an outcast to the rest of the school?

Sitting down in the seat that was saved for me, I suddenly felt a wave of calm, the anxiety slowly ebbing down to nothing.

Sighing with relief, I went to open my History book on the Civil War. As the book opened, a small black creature scurried towards me. I made a noise that could only be described as a squeak as I shoved the spider away from me and off the desk, lifting my feet onto my chair and checking around to see where it went.

A small laugh escaped from the person sitting on my left.

Turning to look at Jasper, he had a hand over his mouth as an attempt to hide a smile. But his eyes gave away his amusement.

"Seriously?" I scoffed a laugh "You stare at me strangely for almost an entire day and the first thing you do afterwards is laugh at me?" I stared at him in unbelief, a small smile creeping onto my face at how joyful his laugh had been; completely contradicting the demonic image in my mind.

"My apologies, ma'am." He smirked.

Well _damn._

I had tried to imagine what he may sound like a few times over the course of the past day and a half, but I had never expected _that_. He was clearly originally from Texas, and had possibly the most attractive accent in the entirety of the US.

I believed with how beautiful every member of the Cullen family was, that they should all have at least one bad quality. But so far, Jasper and Alice were perfect in every way. They were beautiful, had wonderful voices and so far seemed to be friendly enough once you were past the first day.

But I couldn't fully get passed the images in my mind. Jasper lunging towards me, Alice having red eyes, the images of them being inhuman.

I wondered how Jasper had managed to go from weirdly staring to laughing and smirking in such a short time. Maybe Alice was telling the truth, maybe it was just new for him to be around so many people.

I felt like I was losing my mind, there was no way that people like this could be real...

Realising how long I'd been staring at this point, I shook my head and asked the first thing that popped into my head.

"Were you okay yesterday?" I asked. "I was worried that I'd done something to offend you."

His eyes widened, looking suddenly caught off guard by my question. "I have a hard time knowing how to react. I've not had much experience with this." He told me, though his tone made it seem as though there was an alternate meaning to his words.

His smile was almost angelic in a way. It drew you in so completely that it made it hard for you to focus on anything else. But there was a part of me that couldn't help but feel weary of such a smile. He was _too_ perfect, it was hard to believe that he was even real. I couldn't get over the feeling that there was something off about the Cullens; my gut was screaming at me that they were dangerous, but I could only feel calm.

"Well a good tip is to not stare so much. It's unsettling." I told him with a slight laugh, before turning back to my book.

"I've been trying to help him the past few years." Alice piped up from my other side. "I'm trying to convince him that this lifestyle isn't as hard as he thinks."

"Lifestyle?" I asked.

"Going to public school." She said quickly, as though covering for something. "He's just so used to being private and hidden away."

I didn't really think that it should be classed as a lifestyle, but as the teacher came in to start the lesson, I decided to drop it. It wasn't overly important.

 **-x-x-x-**

Walking into the cafeteria with the pair of them, I listened as Alice rambled about my outfit for the day. She went on about different fashion tips and what styles I should try for my hair.

I had started to feel like I really was going insane before. How could I think there was anything strange about these people? Alice seemed like a genuinely friendly and kind person, it didn't seem like she would hurt a fly.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Lexi." She smiled, gripping me into a hug. "I _know_ we're going to be best friends." As she hugged me, images of us laughing on a white couch in a house that was made almost completely of windows popped into my head.

I found it hard to not enjoy being around Alice, she was so full of joy and happiness that it was contagious.

I slightly laughed, watching as she skipped away to the table the rest of her family were sitting, my mind lingering on the image I had just seen. What was that?

"I wanted to apologise for my actions yesterday." Jasper said, speaking for the first time since our slight interaction at the beginning of History, bringing me back to reality.

"It's fine." I said, my thoughts retreating to the back of my mind for now. "Really, I understand how hard it can be to talk to others. I know that I have the ability to, I just find myself mentally exhausted whenever I try to talk to someone new."

"I find it hard to be around people that aren't my family." He told me, glancing towards their table. "But, I would very much like to get to know you."

As he looked back at me, I noticed how intense his stare was. I also realised that the colour of his eyes were somewhat lighter. At the beginning of History his eyes had been a deep amber. Focusing on them now, they were back to being a light gold like they were the day before.

"Okay." I said, although it came out as an almost whisper. "Biology then."

"Alright." He replied, nodding with a slight smile, before walking off to join his family, glancing back at me on the way.

After getting my lunch, I sat down next to Bella to see her looking at me questioningly.

"What?" I asked.

"What the hell was that?" I heard from across the table. It was Jessica, looking at me as though I had done something wrong. "Why was Jasper Hale talking to you? Or Alice Cullen for that matter?"

"I don't know. I sit near them?" I guessed. "Alice mentioned my dad working with hers… My dad probably just begged Dr Cullen to make his kids talk to me."

"Still." She carried on "They don't talk to anyone."

"So I've been told." I sighed. I was getting quite tired of everyone in the school being so focused on the Cullens. After just two days I was convinced that they were probably normal people who just got misjudged; even with the feeling of danger that came from looking at them.

Jessica continued to prattle on about how she had no idea what could be so interesting about me, every now and then stopping to say, "no offence." I could feel myself getting more and more agitated by the second, wanting the conversation to change to anything else. I shook my head, looking for a means to escape I had just glanced over at the Cullen's table when another wave of calm washed over me.

What the hell was that?

"Coach Clapp said that we're going to be switching to Basketball for a couple of weeks soon." Tyler started, gaining my attention, "You any good?"

"I can handle myself." I said, with a smirk, thinking back to my friendly games with my brother. "You should be worried about losing to a girl."

"You're on, newbie." He smiled "We're going to have to start taking bets at some point."

"Well I've won both of our races so far, so…"

"Earlier on you tripped me though, so I doubt that counts." He argued, taking a bit out of his burger.

I scoffed a laugh, "Just because you tripped doesn't automatically mean that _I_ tripped you, mate." Eating a slice of apple, I looked down at his food "Maybe if you ate better, you'd run better."

"Just because you eat like a rabbit." He mumbled. "Come on, Lex, get some meat in you."

As he slid his burger over to me, I couldn't help but make a face. "I'm good, thanks."

"She's a vegetarian." Bella butted in, sliding the burger back to him. "You've got more chance of her eating dirt, trust me."

"Just when I was starting to like you." Tyler said, mockingly shaking his head.

Playfully slapping his arm, I laughed as I went back to eating my fruit bowl. "You're an ass."

"Bunny rabbit." He snickered.

 **-x-x-x-**

"Seems like Hale tried to walk with you." Eric said to me as we walked into AP Chemistry.

Glancing back, I saw Jasper and Emmett not far behind us. "I think you guys are just looking too far into this whole Cullen thing." I said, turning back to him as we took our seats.

"Lex, _everyone_ thinks they're weird." He said. "You even said that yourself in English _today_."

"And I think I rushed to a judgement. I should know better than that." I reasoned "Today Alice and Jasper have been nothing but nice to me, I think people are just making a big deal out of new students."

" _You're_ new." He started "Nobody is making a big deal out of you."

"Oh really? People haven't been staring at me and Bella constantly for the past two days?"

"Well, yeah, but that's different. You've only been here two days, they've been here two _years_." It seemed as though he was getting frustrated. I got that seeing the Cullens talk to people was an unusual thing, but damn, people had to just deal.

"Well would you want to be friends with people who constantly gawked at and judged you?" I asked, trying to come to the understanding that we were not going to agree on this anymore.

"Fine." He conceded, opening up his Chemistry book. "That Alice, then. Is she single?"

"Oh my God." I sighed, exasperated. "You all judge, but then the second you have an in, you want to be all over them."

" _Okay._ I'll leave it." He said, looking quite awkward before asking me my next question "You think Bella would be interested?"

Trying my best to hide my laugh, I pictured the look on Bella's face if Eric was to try and ask her out. "Hmmm." I began, struggling to hold it together. "I think you'd have to ask her."

"Really?" He perked up "You think I should ask her soon?"

"I'd wait. You know, for a dance or something to come up." I said, smiling.

He looked quite happy, turning back to his book.

I would have to apologise to Bella, but I couldn't let that opportunity pass by.

 **-x-x-x-**

"So why don't you and your family usually talk to anyone else?" I asked Jasper, as Mr Birk told us to get to work. We were learning about evolution and had to look up different information for a paper that would be due next week.

"People seem very judgemental here. I suppose that's normal for such a small town." He replied, opening up his book to a random page. It almost seemed as though he was pretending to read. "What about you? You seem quite friendly, how are you finding it hard to make more friends?"

"I don't know," I answered, "I guess I just lost the ability to actually make friends back in Phoenix." It was strange thinking about Phoenix, the world seemed so different there.

"You didn't make friends there?" He asked, looking at me with concern. "Was there something wrong?"

"No." I said "I just… I never really bothered to make a friend other than Bella…" I trailed off.

"Why?"

"I… Bella… She needed me more…" I sighed.

"You didn't want her to be alone." He summarised. "That's highly noble." He smiled.

"I wouldn't call it noble." I said, shaking my head. Trying to gather my thoughts, I smiled "She was instantly my best friend… I'd do anything for her. Have you never had an instant connection with someone that made you drop everything else in your life for them to be happy?"

He seemed to zone out for a moment before he quietly responded "Yes."

"Well there you go. And I was happy just being friends with Bella." I told him "To be honest, if I thought there was _any_ chance that she would stay in Forks after this school year ended then I probably wouldn't have spoken to anyone else here either." Sighing, I realised something. "I suppose that's why your family doesn't really need to make friends, right? You always have each other."

"That we do." He smiled "But making your acquaintance has been quite extraordinary."

"Extraordinary?" I laughed "We've had like two conversations. And they've both been extremely short."

"I know…" He trailed off, looking lost for a way to say what he was thinking. "I just… I find your company quite calming."

His admission had caught me off guard. Calming… My mind thought back to the waves of calm that had flowed through me almost every time I locked eyes with him, I had experienced the same feeling as I sat down next to Jasper as the lesson started. Although I felt more at ease knowing that it wasn't just me, it also made me feel like wrong. This didn't happen to people, I didn't believe in love at first sight, I believed it was something that grew over time. The feeling that we were meant to be together couldn't be right, it's some insane infatuation… I'm sure it is.

Realising that the two of us had been locked in a stare for a few minutes now, I looked down to my book to read about the last stage of evolution; the human race.

"Do you think the human race will ever evolve?" I asked.

He looked taken back at my sudden change in conversation. "Pardon?"

"You know. That we'll become faster, stronger, live longer. You think that's possible?" I asked.

The smirk that I'd seen back in French had reappeared on his face. "I think there are already beings such as that in the world."

There it was again. That tone. That tone that suggested he was in on some kind of inside joke that I wasn't aware of.

"I guess we'll just have to see if you're right." I said, writing down some points for my paper.

As I looked back at him, I realised that the distance between us had diminished once again.

How do I never notice him doing that?

 **-x-x-x-**

 **A/N: The next chapter will have more Lexi/Bella interaction. More interactions with others that aren't the Cullens.**

 **Feel free to leave a review on any theories you may have. Let me know if you're enjoying it so far.**

 **I should have the next chapter up before next weekend.**

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **~fawningfantasy**


	6. Shameless

**Chapter 6: Shameless**

 **-x-x-x-**

" _Thoughts,_

 _They are like restless beasts in my head._

 _Time,_

 _It slowly kills me in my cold bed."_

Michael Schulte – Thoughts

 **-x-x-x-**

"Bella, you heard your dad last night." I said in the truck on the way to school with Bella in the morning. "He said that the Cullens are stand up people. My dad thinks that Dr Cullen is amazing."

"Something is wrong, Lex." She replied, before sending me a look of concern. "Are you okay? You look exhausted."

The previous night I hadn't slept at all. Every time I closed my eyes I saw awful images of the Cullen family, making the idea of falling asleep terrifying. I didn't want a repeat of my second night in Forks, the image of my blood-soaked neck still ingrained at the front of my mind.

I had spent the entire morning trying and failing to cover the dark circles under my eyes, before avoiding answering any of my mother's questions. Luckily my father was always out at work before I would wake up, so I never had to answer to him.

"I'm just having some trouble sleeping, I don't know why." I sighed.

"Nightmares again?" She asked as we turned into the school. "What are they _really_ about?"

"I'm telling the truth when I say I don't know, Bells." I explained "They're a mixture of images that just don't really make sense. I wish they did but, I just can't figure them out."

"Is it your brother?"

Adam. We still hadn't heard from him. I could tell that my mother was starting to worry about him, she'd been fussing over me every second I was near her; only partially because of my lack of sleep. I had come home from Bella's yesterday to find my father doing everything he could to make her smile, but I knew it wasn't going to work until she had heard from him.

"We still haven't heard from him." I said, my eyes fixed on the students passing by. "It usually doesn't take this long to get some kind of response."

"I'm sure he'll be alright, Lex." She said, placing a hand on my arm to comfort me "Adam is more than capable of looking after himself, he wouldn't let anything take him away from you all."

"I guess." I sighed "Anyway, we should get to class, or we'll be late."

I could see in her eyes that she wanted to talk to me more about it, but she knew I couldn't. She knew I didn't want to focus on that right now.

 **-x-x-x-**

The morning seemed to pass by in a blur.

Bella had spent English whispering to me about how Edward wasn't at school again. She was determined to prove that it was because of her that he had skipped out. I repeatedly told her what Alice had said, that he'd needed to go out of town for some reason, but she wasn't accepting it.

In photography, Alice had smiled and waved at me as I sat down next to Angela. Angela spoke to me about how wonderful it was that I was getting through to some of the Cullens. She was the only person who didn't seem to envy or despise them; it was quite wonderful. She had helped me with all our work that lesson, given that she had far more experience with cameras.

At break, I walked out of the classroom to find Tyler stood waiting for me.

"Hey, bunny rabbit." He smiled "You ready for our third race next lesson?"

"Really? Bunny rabbit? You can't be more creative than that?" I laughed. "Are you really so competitive? I'm faster, you're just going to have to deal with it."

"Hey, I think I said best out of five and I believe I could easily win the next three races. And I _know_ I can beat you at basketball next week." He said, hopping up onto one of the picnic tables outside to sit down.

"And why is that?" I asked, sitting down on the bench.

"Well for starters, I have a solid height advantage. You know, you being like two feet tall."

"I am 5ft5, you ass." I said, punching his leg. "And my brother is taller than you; I stillbeat _him_."

"Yeah, we'll see." He scoffed, looking over to the other side of the yard. "Hale is looking at you again."

Turning around, I spotted Jasper looking over to us while talking to Alice. He looked mildly annoyed.

"I wonder what he's annoyed at." I pondered, looking up at Ty.

"Maybe he's angry that I'm basically serving as a wall between you both. I bet it sucks that the one girl he chooses to talk to is too busy with another guy." He said, turning as Mike, Bella and Jessica walked up. "How's it going?"

"Great, I was just talking to Eric about a trip to the beach soon." Mike said, sitting down on the opposite side of the table to me.

"Sounds good, how many people are going?" Tyler asked.

"So far only a couple, Bella said she's in though."

"Really?" I asked, looking at Bella "You want to go to a beach where it's not going to be all sun?"

"You wanted me to like it here, might as well try and find somewhere I enjoy." She explained awkwardly, sitting down next to me, Tyler's feet in between us.

"You up for it?" Mike asked me.

"I probably won't be doing anything else, so sure." I said, "When are you thinking?"

"Probably in a couple of weeks. We can use the time to convince our parents to borrow some of their bigger cars." He told me, looking towards Bella to see if he could get her attention away from the book in her hand.

"Seems fair." I said, "Bells, you don't have to read that book literally every spare moment of the day."

She shrugged, giving me an awkward smile "You know I find reading it easier than doing most things."

I got it. She found it easier than trying to have a conversation with the desperate blonde guy who closely resembled a golden retriever sitting across from us.

"I heard that your class were doing track in Gym next week." I said with a smirk.

"I don't really want to think about next week." She mumbled.

"Come on, how much damage can she do to other people running?" Mike laughed.

"You'd be surprised." I snickered "Bella has a habit of not just tripping over but tripping _into_ everyone around her."

"Shut up." She said, putting her book back into her bag. "I'll just walk round, I think."

"At least that way you'll only damage yourself."

 _Whack_

She hit me with her folder as the bell rang.

Laughing, I got up and followed everyone else to Gym.

 **-x-x-x-**

At the end of our race, Tyler was crouched over out of breath. "How the hell do you run so fast and not get tired?"

"It's not that hard, Ty." I laughed "You know I used to go for a run every afternoon back in Phoenix, I'm going to start running here, you're free to join me."

"Like after school?" He asked, standing straight again. "I'd be down with that."

"Great." I smiled "I run in the early morning on weekends too, it's up to you if you're up for that."

"Yeah, sure." He said, "We can work out times later."

"I can help you work on your stamina." I explained "You know, the captain of the basketball team should really do better."

"Oh, shut up, you're tiny, less resistance."

"Sure, that's why." I laughed "Let's see what excuse you come up with when I beat your ass at basketball."

"It's not going to happen." He smirked "We should make a bet."

"Neither of us have a ton of money, what could we possibly bet with?" I asked, stretching before I started running again.

"I'll think of something..." He trailed off, looking over to the side with a sigh. "Hale is staring at you _again_."

Looking over, I saw Jasper turning away, his shoulders looked tense. "I doubt that…"

I was shoved slightly forward as someone's shoulder bumped into mine. Tyler caught me and helped me regain my balance. Turning to see who it was, I saw Lauren Mallory continue to run the track.

Lauren was the kind of girl you hoped you never had to interact with at school. She had the bitchy attitude whenever she felt threatened, or even just when she thought she was better than you; which was all the time. I had noticed her glairing at me the previous day during lunch when Tyler had been talking to me. If she'd taken all of 5 seconds to ask, she'd know that I wasn't interested in the slightest. But oh well, I doubt I was missing out on an amazing friendship.

"You alright?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah" I responded, "Looks like someone is sick of me hogging all of your attention."

"Lauren?" He asked, his voice filled with disbelief. "Nah, it's not like that. She's just a good buddy."

I couldn't help the laughter that came out of me "Guys are _so_ oblivious. You really think she shoved past me by accident?"

Rolling his eyes, he set himself up to run again "I think girls just look too far into every interaction."

"Says the guy who is constantly pointing out every little thing Jasper Hale does towards me." I smirked.

"Alright." He replied, standing straight again. "If you win this race then I'll let it go. I won't mention Hale to you ever again."

"Deal." I smiled, getting myself into the right stance. "If I win then you have to deal with me pointing out everything Lauren does."

"Deal."

 **-x-x-x-**

"Where's Alice?" I asked Jasper as I sat down in History.

"She wasn't feeling very well, she's gone to the nurse to see if she can feel better." He responded.

"Oh, well, I hope she's alright." I said, watching him as he appeared to relax. "Are _you_ alright?"

"Why of course." He smiled, "What would make you think otherwise?"

"I don't know, you've just seemed quite tense when I've seen you today."

"It's nothing, I assure you." He said, looking like he was contemplating what he was going to say next "You and Tyler Crowley appear to be quite close."

"Erm, yeah. I don't know, he's really nice, he's been a good guy to talk to."

"Most guys will be nice to a girl with such a pretty face." He smirked.

"Is that why you're nice to me?" I scoffed a laugh.

The smirk on his face seemed to grow as he shifted to face me. "Maybe that's one of the reasons."

"You mean it's not because of my incredible bravery in the face of spiders?"

"I would never dare pick a fight with you." His laugh seemed almost musical.

I stared in disbelief "You're so hard to understand."

"Why is that?" He asked.

"You act all strange around me one day, just to shamelessly flirt with me two days later."

"Are you implying you don't want me to?" The smirk was back.

The smile that stretched onto my face would probably cause my cheeks to hurt later. "I don't think that was the point of what I said."

"Will you join me for lunch?" He asked, catching me off guard.

"You can't wait to talk to me in Biology?"

"Alice heard that we were going to be out of the classroom today, in the computer lab. I feel Tyler will steal your attention." He informed me, looking slightly tense again.

"What's your problem with Tyler?" I asked, if I hadn't known any better I would guess that he was jealous. But we'd only spoken a few times. And regardless of the strange feeling that washed over me in Chemistry on that first day, there was no way there was anything between us.

"Nothing." He told me "I just thoroughly enjoy your company."

"You know sometimes you talk as though you're from a different time."

He relaxed again, the smirk returning once more. "Sometimes I feel as though I am from a different time."

"I suppose I can sit with you at lunch." I said, "You sure your family won't mind you ditching them?"

"I think they'll approve if it's to sit with you." His eyes suggested that there was a deeper meaning to his words.

Mr Herbert called for everyone's attention, stopping me from asking why I made a difference.

Instead, I just nodded at Jasper with a small smile.

 **-x-x-x-**

Walking into the cafeteria, I felt eyes on us instantly.

"I hate how much people _stare_ here." I said, trying not to focus on anybody.

The sudden feeling of calm that I was coming to know so well washed over me as something extremely cold touched my back. I gasped, not knowing what it was, watching as Jasper quickly pulled his hand away.

"My apologies." He said, "I have exceedingly bad circulation."

"No… It's fine. I find myself overheating a ridiculous amount due to my body temperature being unreasonably high so that was actually quite nice." I assured him

He gave me a small smile, before placing his hand on my lower back again to escort me to an empty table.

I didn't know what it was about Jasper. But he had such a calming effect that it was hard not to get lost in it. He was exactly what someone needed when coming to a new school, the nerves and awkwardness just disappeared when he was around; at least for me they did.

"So why do you and your adoptive siblings seem so similar?" I asked, sitting down at a table, "You all look like you're actually related."

"Rosalie is my biological sister, Esme is our aunt." He said sitting down on the chair next to me "She was kind enough to welcome us into her home when our parents passed away."

The way he said it, it almost sounded rehearsed, like it was just some story to tell outsiders that they didn't trust with the truth. He hadn't looked at me while he spoke, and his words were lacking emotion.

"They sound amazing, your adoptive parents." I said "Taking in so many children at such a young age… It's unheard of."

"Yes… My family isn't quite like any other." There it was, that tone that suggested some kind of alternate meaning.

I could feel eyes in the back of my head, turning around I could see my usual group all staring in my direction.

"I don't think I thought this through, sitting with you is basically just guaranteeing an avalanche of questions from everyone later." I sighed.

"At least three of them are jealous." He smirked "Your friend Bella is just confused."

"You sound so certain?" I asked, taking a bite out of my apple."

His smirk became more of a smile, "I'm good at reading people's emotions." He told me, turning slightly away.

For a second, I thought that I could see a range of teeth marks covering his neck. But once again, I blinked, and they were gone. My eyes had scrunched up in confusion, now staring at his neck. It had looked like it had been ravaged by multiple beats and yet now it looks smooth; it looked like it had never so much as been touched.

Shaking my head, I decided to put the strange thoughts to the back of my mind once more. "Okay." I said, turning to fully face him. "What am I feeling right now?"

His look became intense, eyes locking with mine. "Worried, I'm guessing that's because of the looks from your friends." He started "Slightly scared, Alice said something about you having bad dreams…" His look became concerned for a second before a smile graced his face "Calm, something I have a feeling I contribute to. Mostly… Curiosity, interest… Am I that much of a mystery to you?"

It wasn't until his voice became almost a whisper at the end that I realised how close we had gotten. Our faces only inches apart. I suddenly felt a new feeling, one that I had never felt before, I started to lose the ability to breath properly, my breathes coming out quite short and ragged.

Blinking rapidly, I shook my head and moved back to an appropriate distance. "I guess you are good at reading people."

I noticed as I glanced back at him, that his eyes were almost black now. His shoulders had become tense once more, his jaw locked. It almost seemed as though he had stopped breathing.

Then the bell rang.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow…" I said, slowly standing.

He rose to his feet alongside me but didn't say a word. He simply nodded towards me, before turning and walking off to his family.

"You ready for Chemistry?" I jumped as Eric popped up next to me "I'm guessing you won't be walking with Hale?"

"Yeah," I said, giving him a smile "Let's go."

 **-x-x-x-**

"You lost the race, you don't get to ask questions." I laughed, sitting down next to Tyler in the computer lab.

It turned out Alice had heard right. When I walked over to Biology, Tyler had been waiting for me outside of the classroom, informing me of the teacher's decision.

"That was until you looked like you were away to get down right in the middle of the cafeteria." He said, sounding slightly astonished. "What the hell is it about the Cullens that makes girl go instantly weak?"

"I am not weak, and we weren't doing _anything_." I reasoned "And like you can even say anything, just because you got turned down by Alice doesn't mean you didn't _try_."

"I'm a _guy_." He argued "We're meant to be full of hormones."

"Okay, sliding past the slight general sexism, there is nothing going on."

I just wanted one lesson where I could actually do work and not have to hear about the Cullen family. Yes, they were interesting. But they seemed nice, they seemed just normal enough that I figured people could get past it. It didn't help that Bella had basically become obsessed with Edward and the reasoning for his absence.

"So, do you want to start running this weekend?" I asked, deciding to change the subject as quickly as possible. "If you wanted to get to my house by about 9am, I'll give you my address."

"Yeah, that sounds great. You sure you want to wake up that early on a weekend?" He asked.

"Why? Do you become lazy on weekends?" I laughed.

"No, I'm good. Just thought you'd want to sleep in, you seem tired."

"I'll be fine." I reassured. "Trust me, I feel better when I've been for a run. And it has to be early anyway, Bella wants to go to the library. I said that I'd go with her."

He looked at me like I was insane. "The library? Why would you want to go there?"

"Because, Tyler, some people enjoy reading books." I smirked. "You really aren't doing much for the athletic student stereotype."

"I just don't find it all that interesting, sport is my life, bun-bun."

"Bun-bun?" I asked, my face scrunching up in disgust.

"Bunny rabbit is too long." He complained.

I found myself laughing probably more than I should have "You know you could just call me Lex or Lexi?"

"Where's the fun in that?" He smiled. "It sucks that we got put in a seating plan."

"I don't know, I think you'd be way too distracting." I beamed "I mean, we've been in here for 15 minutes already and we haven't done even a _little_ bit of work."

"I'm just that awesome."

I scoffed "Sure you are."

Tyler slightly shoved my shoulder as we finally turned towards the computers to do some work.

 **-x-x-x-**

"I need to go to the Thriftway before I go home, is that okay?" Bella asked me as I hopped into her truck.

"Yeah, of course." I smiled "Is Charlie happy he doesn't have to rely on pizza anymore now that you're here?"

"He wants to go to the diner tonight, I want to make steak though." She told me "Don't make that face, people like steak."

"I didn't say a thing." I said, "But that steak could be that cow you were nice to last year."

"Lexi."

"Okay, I'm sorry. You know I believe in people having choices, you want meat, you have meat. It doesn't affect me." I rambled, as she pulled out of the school.

"It's a wonder that Charlie isn't in the hospital every week with how badly he's eaten." She started "I mean, it can't be healthy to live off of pizza and diner food."

"Most people live off of pizza, Bells." I said "It's the easy food. It's the lazy food."

"Well he's having a proper meal tonight; did you enjoy the pasta last night by the way? I never asked."

"You know I like your cooking, it was great as always."

She sighed as she looked ahead "Do you think he'd learn how to cook if I asked him?"

"I know you're sick of looking after your parents." I said, "But Charlie isn't Renee. He knows how to look after himself, it's not like you have to do everything for him."

"I suppose." She conceded "It's only for the rest of the school year, anyway."

With that, I frowned. I would miss Bella. I didn't really know how life would be without her, she had been by my side every day for years now. It's why I started coming with her to Forks when she used to visit her dad, before he started coming over to visit her.

"We'll still see each other, Lex. I'm sure we will." She told me, my face must have given away my thoughts. "And we could always go to the same college, we could be reunited after just a year."

"I guess… What's made you so comfortable with it all of a sudden?" I asked, "I thought you were worried that we'd drift apart?"

"You pinkie promised." She stated firmly. "And as childish as I find those, you treat them like blood oaths. So, I know we'll stay friends."

I slightly smiled to myself. She was right, I did treat them like the most powerful promise on the Earth. If anyone breaks one, they should never be trusted again.

"I'm going to miss you, Bells." I sighed.

"I know, I'll miss you too." She said, slightly turning towards me with a small smile.

We eventually arrived at the Thriftway and I could see that it made Bella feel more comfortable. I suppose it must have reminded her of back home, we would frequently go to the store for her to buy food supplies for her mother. It almost seemed as though we were back in Phoenix, the rain couldn't even be heard from inside; for all we knew it was sunny.

I watched as Bella threw in a few vegetarian items, clearly planning for the weekend when she would no doubt invite me round for dinner. I could tell she was still awkward around Charlie, she needed me to help her settle in. I was surprised I'd only been round twice so far.

"You'll come around for dinner after we've been to the library, right?" She asked. I knew it.

"Of course, I will, Bells. You know I'll come over to your house whenever you want."

"Great." She smiled. "I think I've got everything so, we can get going."

 **-x-x-x-**

"Are you sure you're okay, love?" My mother asked as we sat watching TV.

"Yes, mum." I replied, "Why wouldn't I be?"

She looked at me with worry. "I can tell you haven't been sleeping, is there something keeping you awake?"

"No, I'm just getting use to the weather here. It's colder and louder here, it'll just take some getting used to."

"You know that if there is _anything_ else that you can tell me?" She told me, forcing me to keep eye contact. "Literally anything. Even if it seems strange. Even if it seems impossible."

My eyes scrunched up in confusion. Did she know what was happening to me? That was impossible. But then again, she did just say even if it seems impossible. What if she could tell me exactly what I want to know?

I opened my mouth to ask her, but then I heard the front door open.

"Everybody home?" My dad called in.

"In the living room, love." My mother called back, before her voice turned into a whisper. "We'll talk about this later, Lex."

"This weekend?" I asked, hopeful.

"Whenever you want." She smiled, slightly stroking the back of my head in comfort.

"Hey there Lexi-Lou." My dad greeted, kissing my forehead. "How was school today?"

"It was alright." I said, "I spoke to one of the Cullens again."

His smile became brighter at the mention of the Cullen family "That's great! See? I told you that they just needed someone to give them a chance."

"Yeah, they seem really nice. Well, the two that I've spoken to so far." I explained "How was work?"

"Dr Cullen did an amazing thing today. Honestly, I thought that the woman was a goner, but he swooped in and saved the day." He said in awe "I've never witnessed a man work like him, it's incredible. It's making me work even harder."

"That's great, dad."

"We should invite them over for dinner one night." My mother offered. "Since you're both getting along with them so much."

"I can ask." My dad smiled. "I doubt they get many offers, great idea darling." There was a comfortable silence before I saw my dad's smile falter. "Has anyone heard from Adam yet?"

I felt my mother tense by my side, her eyes stayed focused on the TV. "No." She said shortly.

The tears in her eyes were obvious, just waiting until people weren't looking to fall. My mother had always been calm whenever we hadn't heard from him in a while, this was different. I wondered what her change in attitude could mean, if it meant that there was something terribly wrong. What if deep down, my mother could sense that he was in trouble? That we were going to hear bad news?

"I'm sure he's alright." My father said, reaching and hand over to touch my mother's knee. "Don't worry too much, okay?"

She didn't say a word as she grasped his hand tight.

I said nothing as I walked up to my room. I needed to hear from him, I needed to know he was okay. My brother had been everything to me ever since I was born. My parents often spoke about how Adam had been the person who could make me laugh the most. As I grew up, I constantly wanted to be around him. And somehow, unlike most older brothers, he genuinely enjoyed my attention. He would find ways to include me in everything he did; even if his friends weren't too happy about it.

Pepper was sat on my bed, looking straight at me as I walked into my bedroom. It was as though she knew I needed her in that moment; she always seemed to know. I had missed her the past two nights, she had been at the vet, having injured herself while I was at school the first day. She was alright, they just wanted to make sure.

When I sat down, she immediately crawled into my lap and snuggled into me. She slightly licked my hand as I raised it to stroke her. I couldn't imagine what life would be like if she hadn't followed me home, she was perfect.

"What should I do, Pep?" I asked, "Too much is happening all at once."

I didn't know what I expected an answer from a dog, it was impossible. But then again, everything was seeming possible now. I felt as though the world was full of things I once believed to be ridiculous, that I believed to be fantasy.

"Do you think everything will turn out okay?" I asked, gaining a light lick on my chin. "I'll take that as a yes." I smiled.

"Hey Lexi-Lou." I heard as my dad slightly opened my door. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just worried is all." I shrugged.

He sighed as he sat down next to me, giving Pepper a quick scratch on her head. "Adam is a fighter. He'll make it back to us, I know he will."

"What if he doesn't?" I asked, my voice slightly breaking as I felt my eyes tear up. "What if we never see him again?"

"We will." He said firmly, wrapping his arm around my shoulders tightly. "We won't have to say goodbye just yet."

I could only nod in response, I suddenly couldn't muster any words.

He quickly hugged me before leaving, closing my door behind him. I didn't feel the need to fully cry, for all I knew Adam was okay, and I had to stay positive.

Words couldn't describe how much I longed for the calming feeling that enveloped me whenever I was at school. I wished there was some way to feel that way all the time, for it to be a constant in my life.

After getting changed into some sweats and a tank top, I crawled into bed, Pepper curling up by my side. I picked up Alice in Wonderland, hoping that my mind would be taken far enough away from reality that I would be able to fall asleep.

Hopefully the nightmares would stay clear just for tonight, I needed energy. But as I closed my eyes I already saw the flickering images of golden eyes turning red.

It was going to be a sleepless night.

 **-x-x-x-**

 **A/N: I tried to put some more interaction with other people in this one. I tried to avoid a Jasper section, but it was inevitable; it wouldn't make sense for him to suddenly leave her alone.**

 **Some replies to comments (I'll do these from now on)):**

 **ReadingRainbow7: I plan to verge away from the books/movies slightly. It will mostly follow them but there will be quite a bit of an added storyline.**

 **FictionChic18: I keep flip flopping with the idea of her being something to one of the wolves. Honestly, I think I'm just going to go with whatever my mind decides when I'm writing that part of the story, haha.**

 **Ferallahey: Well we'll find out soon enough why her dreams are happening. And you'll get to know what Alice saw eventually, it shall be explained. I think if she wasn't freaked out about the weird staring then she'd be insane, lmao.**

 **Ursa: Well, we'll see if your theories about the dreams are true real soon**

 **: Jasper won't keep her away from her friends. It frustrates me when couples just become attached at the hip and ignore their friends, it's not right, haha.**

 **Hannah: I plan on a pretty great relationship between Lexi and Emmett, so you can look forward to it.**

 **Everyone else who has reviewed, thank you so much. I appreciate the nice comments.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the new chapter.**

 **~fawningfantasy**


	7. No

**Chapter 7: No…**

 **-x-x-x-**

" _I can feel the darkness coming._

 _And I'm afraid of myself._

 _Call my name and I'll come running._

 _Cause I just need some help…"_

Hurts – Help

 **-x-x-x-**

As I woke up on Saturday morning, I felt an overwhelming sense of dread overcome me.

I could see a rare glimpse of sunlight filtering in through my bedroom curtains, suggesting that the day was actually going to be quite bright; a day that anyone would expect to be a great one.

But there was a pit in my stomach that I couldn't quite place… I hadn't felt it before today, but I _knew_ that it meant something. I knew that it wasn't just some random feeling that meant nothing in the long run, something bad was _going_ to happen. And it was going to happen _soon_.

Looking around my room, everything seemed to be the same as always. Nothing was out of place, not even the book that I'd fallen asleep reading. It was still in my lap, proof of a completely peaceful sleep.

I was surprised that I hadn't had nightmares last night. When I had closed my eyes, I could see them trying to make an appearance. But maybe the nightmares staying in the back of my mind last night was actually a bad thing, what if the nightmares were kept at bay with the knowledge that a real-life nightmare was going to happen today?

My phone going off on my bedside table drew me out of my thoughts.

 _Are we going for a run or what? – Ty x_

Tyler. I had said I'd run with him on weekends. I realised that there was no reason to stay in bed, if something awful was going to happen today, it would find a way to do so no matter what I personally did.

Quickly getting out of bed, I sent a reply to Tyler to let him know where to meet me. It didn't take me too long to get changed into a sports bra and leggings for running.

As I made my way downstairs I heard a crash from the kitchen.

"Mum?" I called out, jogging through. "Are you alright?"

"Hm?" She mumbled picked a pan up off the floor in a daze. "What, darling?"

"Are you okay?" I asked, again. It wasn't like my mum to be like this.

She shook her head as to clear her thoughts before smiling at me, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I'm fine, dear. Go for your run."

"Okay…" I trailed off, hovering in the doorway, not too sure if I should leave her while she's like this. "Are you _sure_ you're okay?"

"I'm fine, dear." She stressed, walking over to me and resting her hands on my shoulders. "Go for your run. I'll see you later."

"Alright…" I said. "I'll be going to the library with Bella afterwards."

"That's fine, love." She called over her shoulder, already on her way to finish what she'd been doing before I came downstairs.

As I exited my house, I could faintly make out Tyler at the end of my street.

"You okay, bun-bun?" He asked as I approached him.

"Please stop calling me that." I whined, standing next to him to stretch.

He laughed as he copied my movements. "Never. Seriously though, are you alright?"

"I'm fine… I guess." I said. "Do you ever just get the feeling that somethings about to happen?"

His eyebrows scrunched up, thinking about my question before answering. "No, not really. You might just be ill, I'm sure everything is going to be fine."

I knew I wasn't ill. This was a completely different feeling, but I decided to just drop the conversation and take my mind off of everything.

"Maybe," I smiled. "You ready to run?"

"Of course." Ty grinned. "How long are we going to run for anyway?" He asked as we started with an easy jog.

"Well I have about an hour and a half before I have to meet Bella, so about an hour."

"You're going to regret that." I heard him smirk from beside me.

Giggling, I quickened our pace. "We'll see about that."

 **-x-x-x-**

"Doesn't this place just make you feel alive?" I beamed as I came to a halt near the forest by my house an hour later.

Turning round, I heard Tyler gasping. "You're insane."

"I thought it was me that was going to regret going for a run?" I laughed.

Leaning on his knees, he took a seat on the grass. "That was before I knew you were bionic."

Raising my eyebrows in amusement, I smirked "Bionic?"

"It's the only way you can't be tired out right now." His breathing was coming out in deep, heavy, breathes. "Seriously, how are you not even tired?"

I took a minute to contemplate my answer. I mean, back in Phoenix, I _would_ be tired out by now. But there was something about Forks that gave me a new energy, that made me feel like I could do anything that I could possibly want to.

"I don't know." I shrugged. "I just feel better in Forks."

Coming to his feet, he walked over to me. "I think from now on we do half an hour, if you want to run with no rests. Other than that, we take five-minute rests every now and then, you monster."

"I mean, I feel like I've warned you enough times that I'm better than you. You have no-one to blame but yourself, Ty." I explained. "Think about it, keep going at my pace and one day you might be _level_ with me."

Scoffing, he started stretching, readying himself for the jog back home. "I can't wait till we play basketball, I'm going to _ruin you_."

"That a promise?"

He took pause, turning to glance at me. "Don't get all flirty if you're not going to do anything about it, bun-bun. It's not nice to break guy's hearts."

Laughing, I gave him a quick hug goodbye. "I would never dream of it." I smiled. "I'll see you Monday?"

"Yeah." He smiled, "Don't think I'm going to let the Cullens steal you away from the group."

Almost got through a full morning without that family getting brought up. _Almost._

 **-x-x-x-**

"Hello, Bella." My mother greeted kindly as Bella came through the front door. "How are you doing, love?"

"Fine." She replied, with her awkward smile firmly in place. "How are you finding Forks?"

My mum moved from her seat next to me on the couch over to escort Bella into the room. "Oh, we're doing just lovely. You should see some of the artwork that I've done since we got here, it's absolutely beautiful."

"I'm sure it is." She awkwardly laughs. "I'm sorry I haven't been over much since we moved here, I should really try to."

"Don't worry, love." My mum waved her off, "You need to reconnect with your father, we understand. You can come round whenever you want."

"Are you ready to go to the library?" I asked, standing up before my mum could offer Bella some tea.

Bella would immediately accept in order to not seem rude, even though we both know she doesn't actually want any tea, and we'd have to stay here for another half an hour before going to do what we had planned.

"Yeah." She nodded, obviously grateful for the interruption.

Bella like my parents, it's just that my mother had a knack for asking the questions you were trying to avoid. I just know that Edward would end up being brought into conversation and that was the last thing that Bella wanted while we waited for Edward's return to school.

"I'll see you after dinner, I'll be eating at Bella's." I told my mum, kissing her on the cheek as I made to leave.

"Okay, dear." She said, her eyes glancing towards the house phone, before back to me. "I'll see you later."

Leaving the house, Bella leaned in to whisper "Is your mom alright?"

"I don't know…" I said, glancing back to see my mum with a worried expression. "She's been kind of… Out of it… Today."

"What do you think is wrong with her?" She asked, as we got into her truck. "Has anything happened?"

"Not that I know of. And I'm pretty sure that they'd tell me if anything bad had happened to anyone…" I trailed off. "But I can't get over this feeling like something bad is _going_ to happen. Maybe my mum is having the same feeling."

"Well, hopefully it's nothing." She said, looking over at me concerned. "Surely it's not possible to actually _know_ when something bad is away to happen?"

Sighing, I looked out of the window, putting my sunglasses on. "I don't know, Bells. I'm starting to think a lot of impossible things are possible…"

I could tell she knew I wanted to change the subject, and I was grateful that she offered a new topic. "It's insane that there is actually a bit of sunlight today, huh?" She asked, "I never thought I'd see the sun again while we were here."

"I think you're forgetting who you're talking to." I responded. "I already miss the dull grey clouds."

"How can you miss those? Seriously? It's still _way_ colder than Phoenix." She scoffed. "You've got to learn to appreciate it while it's here. The sun is good for you."

"It can also burn you and give you cancer, so I wouldn't exactly use that argument too strongly." I mumbled.

Bella just shook her head with a smile, choosing to let it go.

It only took us about 10 minutes to get to the library; if you could call it a library.

"There are like… 10 books here, Bells." I said, wiping a bit of dust off of one of the shelves inside.

Her brows furrowed in frustration. "We're going to have to travel to get books. How do people deal with living here?"

"Probably helps if you've lived here your whole life to be fair." I offered. "It isn't exactly the end of the world. I mean, it gives them an excuse to go to Port Angeles or Seattle on a weekend."

"A trip to Seattle doesn't sound so bad, I guess." She replied, picking a book off the side. "It looks like these haven't been looked at in years."

"The librarian is literally asleep." I gawked, looking over at the main desk. "I mean, we could probably just take these, I honestly believe she'd thank us."

"Yeah, I'm sure that my father the _chief of police_ would be thrilled." She glared.

Raising my hands in defeat. "Okay. I get it." I said. "What do you want to do now? This trip took all of 20 minutes, if that."

"We could take a look around? See what there actually is store wise in Forks?" She suggested, opening the creaky library door to let me out. "Cause so far it looks like we have literally nothing to do but possibly go to the diner."

"At least now you can understand why Charlie does so often." I shrugged. "It's still a cute little town though. I think it's a nice place to live."

"Because you're insane." Bella said, starting to walk down the street to the few shops we could see.

"Why do people keep saying that to me today?"

The few shops that we found in the area weren't exactly shops we could see ourselves frequenting. One of them was just a shop designated to selling fish, a shop that I found revolting. It didn't take us long to get into Bella's truck and start on our way to the diner. It was only 12 and Charlie wouldn't finish work until 5, so we figure we may as well eat out for lunch instead of hang around the house for the rest of the day.

We spoke about what weekend would be best to go over to Seattle. We decided to plan a full day there, leaving as early as possible to get as much time there as we could.

"I kind of want to get some new dresses…" I thought out loud.

"Why? It's freezing here."

"I don't know." I started "I just feel really in the mood to dress all flowery and green. Not bright green, like a deep forest green."

"Are you away to tell me you want to become one with nature?" She asked.

"What's so wrong with that?" I laughed. "Not completely. I just feel so connected here, you know?"

"Not in the slightest." She shook her head. "I can feel myself becoming clumsier by the day here."

"I don't think that's Forks' fault, Bells."

"Lex, you have to admit that there are some faults with this place." Bella pushed, pulling over in front of the diner.

"Well, if my food is awful here then yes. Otherwise, I'm quite happy here." I told her, hopping out of the truck. "I think you need to try and focus on the positives, Bella. We've only been here for a week and we've already made an entire group of friends." I explain. "Back in Phoenix, it was just us. Can you not understand how amazing that is?"

She looked at her feet as we walked into the diner. "I guess… It's just so small and wet, there's hardly anything here." Her words faded into a whisper as a kind waitress came over and welcomed us into the warm establishment.

"Bella, good to see you again." She smiled. "You must be Alexis, Charlie mentioned Bella was coming over to Forks with a friend. I heard you used to come with her on visits?"

"Yeah, I did. Mostly just stayed at the house or went down to the reservation though." I smiled. "It's Lexi, by the way. Nobody really calls me Alexis."

The waitress nodded, showing us to a small table. "Lexi. Well it's lovely to meet you. I'll be back soon to take your orders."

As I watched her walk away, I couldn't help but smile to myself. If we were in Phoenix, the place would be so busy that the waitress would have hardly any time to talk to us, never mind learn any names. Forks may be cold in the sense of the weather, but the people were warm and kind; welcoming.

"How can you hate it here, Bella?" I whined. "Can't you just realise that this place is amazing and stay until we go to college?"

"Lex." She scoffed a laugh. "You know we don't share the same opinion on _everything_ , right? We'll be reunited when it's time to go to college."

"And I'm sure it'll be a beautiful moment, but I still think you should stay." I mumbled, searching the menu before realising the only vegetarian option was a salad. "Well, I know what I'm having."

"A mental breakdown if you think I'm staying here." Bella grumbled. " _Ow._ "

I threw a spoon at her.

 **-x-x-x-**

"You'd love it if she stayed, wouldn't you Charlie?" I asked, hopping up onto the kitchen counter that night as Bella was making dinner.

" _Lex_." Bells stressed, prodding me with a fork.

"What?" I exclaimed, shuffling away from her. "He would!"

"I'm sure my mom would love to hear all of this." She quipped.

Folding my arms across my chest, I sighed. "If Renee really cared about me she wouldn't take you away from me."

"She cares about _me_."

"How _dare_ you. I am like _family_ to you _both_." I gasped.

"Lex," Charlie finally chimed in. "Bella is a big girl, I'm sure she can make her own decisions." With that, he made a noise of discomfort and went back to reading his newspaper.

"You Swans, so awkward and emotionally unavailable." I shook my head dramatically.

"Shut up." Bella laughed, nudging my knee. "I think you'll do just fine with a year away from me."

Mocking a glare, I hopped down off the kitchen counter to take a seat next to Charlie.

"So, Charlie, how's work going?" I asked.

Folding up his newspaper, he set it down on the table. "Not much going on just now to be honest with you, Lexi. Which is a good thing, I guess. A bit boring for me and the boys at the station… But it means the people are safe."

"Either way, it's a win-win then, hey?" I offered. "Do you know of any part time jobs going anywhere?"

My question must have been a hard one, cause his eyebrows furrowed as if I'd asked him a difficult math question. "Part time jobs?"

"Yeah, I figured I'd be here for at least another year and a half… Why not find a part time job? It's good to get any kind of experience working and it might help me fit in with the towns folk a bit more." I shrugged.

"Hmm…" He trailed off. "I think that's a great idea, Lex. I'll ask around tomorrow for you."

"Thank you." Beaming, I sat back in my chair as Bella came over with the food. "Smells great, Bells. Ain't you a lucky one, Charlie?"

"Always have been." He responds, settling in to eat his meal.

 **-x-x-x-**

"You realise you don't have to walk me home when I live literally across from you, right?" I asked Bella after dinner as we approached my front door.

She laughed, playing with a strand of her hair. "I know, I guess it's just a habit."

"I suppose it's a good one." I said, coming to a halt, staring at my front door.

The feeling was back. As though, if I take even one step through my front door, something awful was going to happen. Now it was full force, almost making me bend over in unbelievable pain. I felt as my breathing became more laboured.

"Lex?" Bella asked, concern laced in her tone. "Are you alright?"

"Something is wrong, Bells. I can _feel_ it." I said, tears welling up in my eyes.

Why was I starting to cry? Nothing had even happened… Yet.

But I just couldn't wrap my mind around this new feeling. I had flashes in my mind, pictures of my mother crying, of my brother Adam, of my father looking lost.

I was afraid.

I was afraid of what could be on the other side of the door, of what could be waiting for me. Whatever was going to happen, I knew it was something that I didn't want anything to do with. It would be something that I would personally want to ignore.

I was frozen.

Reaching out to the doorknob, my hand gently resting on it but making no move to open the door. What was away to happen? What was I away to see? What was I away to hear?

"Lexi, _what's_ wrong?" She asked, placing a hand on my back.

"Just…" I gulp, trying to calm myself, to force myself to believe that everything was alright. "Just stay with me for now, okay?"

"Okay."

Opening the door, I felt my heart stop.

My mother was sobbing into my father's arms.

"Dad?"

His eyes met mine, worry and heartache deep within them. He looked lost. "Lex… It's Adam."

My heart shattered into splinters that laid all around me.

I couldn't feel as Bella's arms wrapped around me. I couldn't feel as I fell to the floor. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't register anything else that was happening.

"No…"

 **-x-x-x-**

 **Hello there.**

 **Sorry that it's been so long since the last update (family issues, no time for even looking at my computer).**

 **So, here's the next chapter. I should be able to post on the regular again, thank God.**

 **For anyone interested, I am doing an Emmett/OC story as well, I've finally written a few more chapters for the story so I'll be updating that real soon.**

 **Let me know what you guys think! Leave a review, I love reading your reviews, they make my day. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: Kaylala, Kairi Nara, AppropriateLlama, FictionChic18, Camille , and the Guest review. Means so much to see such nice reviews 3**

 **Shatteredxo: There will be a few Jasper POV chapters in the far future. It will go over his POV from the beginning till that part of the story in short sections, so you can look forward to that. x**

 **For anyone interested, I picture her mother as Becky Lynch from WWE.**

 **~fawningfantasy**


	8. Dreams and Darkness

**Chapter 8: Dreams and Darkness**

 **-x-x-x-**

" _Cold, as you turn off the lights,_

 _And memories start floating around._

 _You're doubting yourself,_

 _And you're tired of not being strong."_

Michael Schulte – You'll Be Okay.

 **-x-x-x-**

My eyes were burning.

I hadn't slept since I had heard the news the night before. Bella had left about half an hour ago, after I had told her I needed to be alone. So, I laid in bed, staring at a random spec of dust on my wall.

Still wearing the clothes that I had worn the day before, I couldn't bring myself to even move, let alone change into anything different. It felt as though my bones were fragile, like even a flinch would cause them to crumble into dust; never to be used again.

How did people deal with this sort of thing? You saw things like this happening all over the news, constantly. But you never really stop to think about it happening to you. You never feel what the poor family is going through, until it's your family.

I couldn't picture what he could possibly look like just now. Every time I had ever seen him, he had been happy, smiling, laughing; probably pulling some sort of elaborate prank on one of his closest friends.

For all we knew, he wasn't dead. But he was missing. And nine times out of ten, when they were found it was always bad news.

I could hear my mother crying in the other room, she hadn't stopped.

My own tears had stopped two hours previously, leaving me feeling numb to everything around me. The pain that I had felt the day before, however, had tripled. It made breathing almost unbearable, as though I would never truly breathe again until my brother was found. Until we knew for certain what had happened to him.

Knowing if he was dead or alive was better than not knowing anything.

Every time I blinked, I saw dust and destruction. Something that I hope my brother wasn't seeing right now. Or did I hope that was exactly what he was seeing? At least that way he was definitely seeing _something_. That he was still breathing.

"Lex?" My father's soft voice flowed into my bedroom. "How are you doing?"

I couldn't bring myself to speak. My throat felt like there were a hundred tiny shards of glass tearing through it, leaving me unable to make the slightest noise.

"I suppose that's a foolish question…" He sighed. "I told you that Adam was a fighter. I still believe that, Lex. He'll make his way back to us."

A single tear fell down my cheek as I finally made a move and turned towards him. "You…" I croaked, trying to find a way to speak. "You don't know that."

He looked broken. His words held such hope, but his eyes showed no hint that he actually believed any of it. But this was his job, he was the father, the husband. Dad had to pretend to be strong right now, cause there was no possible force on this planet that could force me or my mother to be the strong ones right now.

"I know that I have to believe that right now…" He sighed, his voice slightly breaking. "It's the only way."

I closed my eyes as I heard Pepper slowly make her way into the room and onto my bed, snuggling her face into mine. Looking down, I could see the sadness in her eyes. There was no idea that she actually understood what was going on, but she knew that I was upset… And that's all she needed.

"I just need to be alone right now, dad." I whisper, the words barely making a sound.

He simply nodded, patting me on the shoulder before heading downstairs.

Sitting up, I moved a chair over to the window. Nature always managed to bring me back to life in times of hardship. But today it felt as though the Earth was still.

The trees behind my house didn't shift, as though there wasn't a single gust of wind today.

The streets were empty, the only noise that I could hear was my own breathing and my mother's cries from the next room.

Taking a steady breath, I wished for everything to just slow down. For time to come to a standstill. I wanted more time to deal with this. For time to stop around Adam, to give him as much time as he needed to get out of whatever situation that he was in and come back home.

Pepper slowly licked at my hand as I stared at nothing, contemplating the idea of finally going to sleep. Truth be told, I was exhausted. I needed to try and sleep, but I just didn't think that I could. The idea of having nightmares during a time like this just wasn't what I needed. What I needed was some peace. Not peace in the sense that I needed everyone and everything to be silent. I needed to feel peace. To feel like everything was going to be okay.

Curling up in the chair, I closed my eyes and hoped that some form of sleep would take me quickly and wished the nightmares would stay at bay for one more day.

 **-x-x-x-**

" _Adam?" I asked._

 _All around me was darkness, filled with grey swirling smoke that curled around my ankles. The smoke made it hard to really determine who it was, but I was so sure that I was looking at my brother's back._

 _Watching as the guy turned around, I wasn't disappointed. It was him. He was okay._

" _Lexi bear." He smiled at me. "You know mum and dad won't be happy that you've come here, right?"_

" _Well it's not fair." I heard another voice say._

 _My head jerked to see where the voice came from. Standing behind me, I saw a younger version of myself. It was then that I realised, what I was seeing was a memory; my favourite memory with my older brother. And Adam wasn't looking at me, he was looking through me to my younger self._

" _Nobody said that parent's have to be fair, Lex." He laughed as my younger self run up to him. He looked younger now. This was when I was 12, he had been 16._

" _I should be allowed to come out late too, though." I heard myself argue. "It's not like I'm a toddler."_

 _Laughing, he put is arm around me and shifted me to sit down next to him on a bench._

 _We were on one of the large hills in Phoenix. The sand brushed over our feet as the wind blew soft gusts over the land. It was by all means a beautiful setting._

" _I like it when it's night time here," I started. "It feels colder, a little more like home…"_

 _Adam looked at me sadly, "This is our home now, Lex. It isn't so bad." With that he smiled brightly. "If you just give it another 10 minutes, you'll understand why I come out here every night."_

" _Do you miss Ireland?" I asked. "I know you've made friends here, but, don't you miss the people back home?"_

" _Of course, I do." He admitted. "But this is life. People move, and they have to make do with that they have."_

 _I watched as my feet shuffled on the ground, my younger self's eyes glued to them._

" _Do you not love Bella?" He asked me suddenly. "Are you saying you would like to leave her behind and never see her again?"_

"… _No. I guess not." I admitted with a sigh. "I just wish that I could have both…"_

 _He smiled as his eyes turned to the sky. "Well, now is the time to make that wish, I'd say."_

 _Tears filled my eyes as I watched the scene before me._

 _My younger self looked towards the sky and gasped with a smile. "Wow…" I said, "There's so many stars…"_

 _And there was. The sky seemed to fill with the bright twinkling balls of energy every night in Phoenix. The sky opened up to reveal the most beautiful scene. I had started to sneak out every night with my brother so that we could talk about our problems, our hopes and dreams. It was my favourite thing about Phoenix._

 _Even after my brother had left, I still sat there every night; wishing for his safety._

" _Everything is going to be okay, Lex." He assured my younger self as she leaned into his side. "I promise."_

 _Sniffling, I wiped my face of the tears that had managed to fall._

 _The grey smoke was back, enveloping the scene before me until I was stood in darkness once more._

" _Adam?" I asked, panicked. "Adam!?"_

" _Lex?" I heard from behind me._

 _Spinning round, I saw him. He was stood there with cuts on his face. His uniform was on, covered with dust and debris, as though he just had a building collapse on him. He looked dishevelled, worried even._

" _Lex? What are you doing here?" He asked, quickly grabbing onto my arms. "You have to go."_

" _What's wrong?" I asked, tears filling my eyes once more. "Where are you? Are you okay?"_

" _I'm trying to get out." He said swiftly, looking over his shoulder. "I'm going to make it back to you all, okay?"_

" _I can't do this." I cried. "I'm not strong enough to make it without you."_

 _He looked at me like I was insane. "You're stronger than you think, Lexi bear." With one quick hug, he released me. "I'll see you soon. I promise." With that, he ran in the other direction._

 _The smoke whirled around me again, making it impossible for me to see anything._

" _Adam?" I called again. "Adam!?"_

 _But he wasn't responding. Not in a memory, not in any form._

 _I felt myself begin to panic. What was I going to do? I could hardly breathe._

" _Lex?" I heard another voice softly say from close by._

 _Golden eyes._

" _Lex…" He whispered._

 _In my delirious state, all I could do was throw myself at him, wrapping my arms around him as I cried. And as I did so, the panic began to dwindle, until it was gone. Replaced by the ever so familiar calm that came with Jasper Hale, I could breathe again._

" _Don't let me go…" I whispered, as the smoke surrounded the pair of us._

 **-x-x-x-**

Pepper tugging on my ankle brought me back to reality.

It was dark now, glancing at my clock I saw that it was 8pm. I had slept through most of the day, thankfully.

Thinking back to the dream that I had, I tried to understand it. When I had seen Adam dishevelled looking, what was that? Was that my mind creating something it knew I wanted to see? That he was going to make it back home? I just had no idea.

Hearing the soft cries from the next room, I knew that my mother still hadn't gotten any sleep today. But the cries weren't as hard now, they weren't as pained. She was starting to calm down, to let herself think about something else.

Looking down at Pepper, she glanced at the door, already knowing exactly what I was going to do.

"C'mon, Pep." I whisper, slowly rising from my chair. "I'm not the one who needs you right now…"

Walking down the short hallway, I gently open the door to my parent's bedroom. I see my mother curled up on the bed, facing away from me and anyone else who may come to see how she's doing.

Pepper hopped up onto the bed, climbing up over my mother until she was in her arms. I watched my mother's back tense, knowing that she was clinging to Pepper for dear life right now.

"Lex?" I hear my dad whisper from the top of the stairs.

Turning to see him, he motioned for me to follow him downstairs. So, I did, closing the door quietly before I did so.

"What is it?" I asked, rapping my arms around myself, fearing that if I didn't then I would fall apart. "Has there been anything else?"

"No…" He sighed. "They said if they find anything else then they'll let us know. They told us not to panic too much, that this doesn't really mean anything… I don't know how they expect a family to relax in a time like this."

Shrugging, I shook my head. "What do you expect them to say at a time like this? There isn't much you can really do in their position right now."

"I suppose you're right." He said, rubbing his hand over his face. "How are you holding up? You seem a little better."

Sitting down on the couch, I sighed. "I'm about as good as I can be right now. I'm just trying to believe that he'll be okay, dad. I'm really trying to believe that."

"That Tyler friend of yours came by to check on you, which was nice of him." My dad started to tell me. "Bella came by three times, I think she's going mad not knowing how you're doing."

"I'll give her a call soon." I said, thankful to have a friend like her. "I'll have to text Tyler too I suppose."

"I think that would be good of you. You also got a call from a couple of the Cullen family, Jasper and Alice, I believe their names were." He said, looking at a small piece of paper he had obviously written messages down on.

I didn't even know their number, how they knew mine was a mystery. I didn't exactly spend a whole lot of time with them, so I was surprised that they would reach out to me at a time like this. But I didn't have much time to dwell on that right now.

"What do you want to do about school tomorrow?" My dad asked, putting the piece of paper down. "If you need to take the week off, I understand, I'm sure the school will too."

"No." I say quickly, "I need to try and take my mind off of all this, I think school is the best place to do that. If I stay here I'll just keep thinking about it all."

"Alright." He said. "As long as you're sure. I'm going to take a few days off work, try and help your mother with anything she needs. She's still not doing so good."

Nodding, I glanced at he stairs. "I saw… I've never seen her like this before. She's always been so certain that everything will work out."

"She's never gotten news like this before." He told me. "She'll be better once we hear he's okay."

I didn't question how he knew that Adam was alright. He didn't know, he was just full of wishful thinking right now. He was in denial that anything could go wrong, that Adam could ever be gone.

A knock at the door brought me out of my thoughts.

"I've got a hunch that may be Bella." My dad said, standing up. "I'm going to go make some tea, try and convince your mother to have something."

As he walked into the kitchen, I made my way to the front door, already seeing the brunette hair through the window.

The door hadn't been open for 2 seconds before Bella had her arms wrapped around me. "Oh my God, Lex."

I held onto her tightly, my head burying itself into her shoulder. "I just don't know what to do with myself, Bells."

"Let's go talk, okay?"

 **-x-x-x-**

"Well, you used to dream of golden eyes before we met the Cullens. Maybe you saw Adam how he is now?" Bella said, after I told her about my dream.

She was sat on the chair I had slept in, while I laid on my bed wrapped in a few blankets to try and cocoon myself from the world. She had been impatiently waiting for me to be able to be around her, needing to be there for me. Apparently she spent the entire day and night cleaning the house and doing her homework for the week to try and keep her mind off of me.

"Maybe…" I trailed off. "I'm trying to convince myself of that, but at the same time… I don't want it to be true. Cause if it is then what the hell kind of freak can see that kind of stuff?" I confessed. "I need Adam to be alright, but I want to find out like a normal person, not because my mind showed me anything to do with him."

"I get it…" She said. "But in this case I really think it's a good thing. I'm sure he's going to be just fine."

It seemed like that was all anyone could bring themselves to say right now. But then again, there was nothing else to say. I mean, it wasn't as though anyone could say they thought he was gone forever, that would be heartless and pessimistic.

"It's my mum I'm worried about, she only just stopped crying… She must be in so much pain." I said. "I have no idea how to even take the slightest bit of pain away from her."

Bella sighed. "I think all you can do is be there for her." She got up from the chair and came over to sit next to me. "You know, you could always stay home with her. You don't need to go to school, Lex."

"I do need to." I stressed. "I can't be left to think right now, Bells. I need to be told what to think, I need to learn."

"Okay… I guess I'll pick you up tomorrow morning, then?" She asked. "Unless you want me to stay the night? Cause I will."

"No." I said, shaking my head, coming out from my many blankets. "Go home, you don't need me keeping you awake. I think I'm going to try and talk to mum anyway."

She looked as though she really didn't want to leave. "Alright. But if you need me, my phone is right by my bed… Call me if you need me."

"You know I will." I assured, bringing her in for a quick hug before it was time for her to go.

 **-x-x-x-**

After a quick shower, I finally changed into some pyjamas.

Wondering out into the hallway, I could hear my father downstairs. I guessed that he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, and instead decided to spend the night watching TV to try and keep his mind occupied.

I gently opened the door to my parent's room once more, this time quietly walking in and climbing into bed with my mother.

As my arms wrapped around her from behind, I could feel the tension in her shoulders slightly relax as her hand gripped mine.

"Everything's going to be okay, mum."

 _You're stronger than you think, Lexi bear._

 **-x-x-x-**

 **A/N:**

 **Thanks for reading, guys.**

 **This story is up to 200 follows so I'm pretty happy, thank you.**

 **There will be more Jasper in the next chapter, don't worry! I hope you guys are still enjoying this story. Thank you for your kind reviews! I appreciate it.**

 **~fawningfantasy x**


	9. Calm Me Down

**Chapter 9: Calm Me Down**

 **-x-x-x-**

" _When my world gets loud, could you make it quiet down?_

 _When my head, it pounds, could you turn down all the sound?_

 _If I lay in pain, by my side would you stay?_

 _If I need you now, would you kindly calm me down?"_

Meghan Trainor – Kindly Calm Me Down

 **-x-x-x-**

The next morning, I operated on autopilot.

I did everything that I usually would: took a shower, got dressed, did my hair. But everything felt wrong today. It felt like I shouldn't be doing any of this, but when I really thought about it… What else could I do? There was no point in wallowing, there was no point in feeling sorry for myself; it would accomplish absolutely nothing.

I figured, that today of all days, it was time to learn a range of new things. I would fill my head with completely new knowledge and skills to push out any negative thoughts that I would have today. I would be different today, I would do the unexpected today.

So, I taught myself how to make banana pancakes.

"Since when do you make breakfast?" Bella asked, walking into my kitchen.

"Since I needed something to do." I smiled in return. "Are you ready for school?"

She looked at me quizzically, as if trying to figure something out. "Yeah… You're 100% sure that you want to go today then?"

"Yes." I sighed. "I already explained why." I said, quickly putting on my shoes for the day and grabbing my shoulder bag. "Can we just go, please?"

"Sure." She nodded, her signature awkward smile gracing her features. "I hope you don't mind me coming over earlier than usual, Charlie said the roads were a bit icy, so we should set off earlier; drive slower."

"That's fine." I smiled, walking up to the truck. I came to a stop when I noticed something different. "Who put the chains on the tires?"

"Charlie." Bella answered, hopping into the driver's side and shutting the door.

Climbing in next to her, I checked her expression; she was uncomfortable. "It's okay for a parent to look after you for a change, Bells…"

Tears welled up in her eyes. "No one has ever done something like that for me before."

As she set off towards the school, I place my hand on her arm to comfort her. "Charlie's a good guy, he just wants to make sure you're safe."

She silently nodded, staring ahead of her, keeping her eyes on the road.

I felt like it was smart to drop the conversation. Bella had always been the one to look after Renee back in Phoenix, I knew that this was a big deal for her. She was used to doing the cooking, cleaning. Used to checking to make sure that Renee was okay at all times of the day. It was almost as though Bella was the parent when it came to that relationship.

I always viewed Bella and her mother as sisters more than mother and daughter. Renee never really acted like a mum did, she wanted to have fun, to travel, to talk about boys and fashion tips.

Charlie was going to be good for her, if she just let him.

Every now and then we'd hit a bump in the road, I would notice Bella flinch. "Are you okay, Bella? You keep wincing…"

She sighed, looking anywhere but at me. "I slipped on the ice coming out of my house…"

Letting out a snort laugh, I quickly covered my mouth with my hand. "Of course, you slipped on the ice. Why did I not just guess? Why would you suddenly be able to walk like a normal person on a slippery surface when you walk like Bambi on a normal dry one?"

"Shut up." She laughed. "I don't walk like Bambi… Ice just doesn't help the uncoordinated."

I felt myself smile wide… Until we pulled into the parking lot.

As I looked out of the window, I noticed how all eyes turned towards the truck. I knew that it wasn't anything to do with the fact we were new, those stares had stopped three days into us being here. This was different, their stares were mixed with pity.

"They know…" I whispered, the pain in my stomach returning full force from yesterday. "Of course, they know, it's such a tiny town. Everybody knows everything."

"I can take you home if you want, Lex." Bella offered, placing a hand on my knee. "You really don't have to be here."

"I do…" I gulped. "I'll be fine." Nodding to myself, I knew that I was lying. I wasn't fine and there was a very large chance that there was no way that I was going to be okay today.

Stepping out of the truck, I was immediately met with someone's arms wrapping around me. "Lexi, I'm so sorry."

"Hey Tyler…" I said, giving him a slight pat on the back. "Please, just act like nothing has happened?"

He looked between Bella and I as he released me, clearly uncomfortable with the idea. "Really?" He sighed. "Nobody expects you to be alright, you know?"

"I don't care." I said, agitated. "I just need people to back off and act like nothing has happened. I need to take my mind off of everything not keep talking about it constantly."

"Okay." He said, raising his arms in surrender, the sad pitying look not leaving his eyes. "Okay, I'll let everyone know…"

With that, he quickly shifted over to our group of friends, leaving Bella and I alone again.

"He was just trying to be nice, Lex." Bella mumbled.

Sighing, I held my hand to my forehead. I was already starting to get a headache. "I know… I just… I just need everything to stop…"

I felt my breathing get slightly restless again, so I took a deep breathe and tried to calm myself down. At least enough to get myself through the morning.

Looking around, the spaces that usually held the Cullen's cars were empty.

"Lex," I heard Angela say as she walked up to us. "Do you want to see the pictures that I took over the weekend for class?" She asked, giving me a small smile.

I should have known I could count on Angela. She would do anything for anyone, even if it meant ignoring something terrible going on in her friend's life.

"Yeah, that would actually be great." I smiled, gratefully.

 **-x-x-x-**

"Lexi!" I heard a voice call when I walked into Photography. As I turned, I saw that it belonged to Alice. She patted on the seat next to her, motioning for me to sit down.

The decision to sit next to her instead of Angela was one purely made because of the phone call I knew I had received the day before. I knew I had to thank both her and Jasper for checking in on me, since I physically couldn't yesterday.

"Hey, Alice." I started, but she didn't let me finish.

"Don't thank me for calling yesterday." She insisted. "We don't even have to talk about it, but I want you to know that everything is going to be just fine."

There was something different about the way Alice said the common cliché. With her accompanied bright smile, I almost wanted to put all of my faith into what she was saying. I honestly think that she believed what she was saying without even a sliver of doubt.

"Okay… Thank you." I smiled. "For not talking about it… Not the call…" I rushed, realising that after she asked me not to thank her, that's exactly what I did.

Alice chimed a laugh in response. "It's meant to snow today," She started "I bet everyone will stop focusing on you when that happens, everybody here _loves_ snow."

"Snow? I haven't seen snow in years, I almost forget what it's like…" I trailed off, my mind jumping back to memories of my brother and I having snow ball fights against our parents back in Ireland.

Alice seemed to realise where my thoughts had drifted, quickly changing topic. "Do you ever fancy a shopping trip?"

"What?" I asked, surprised at how random her choice of subject was. "Why do you ask?"

She beamed, "Well, I know that when people move to a new town they often want to recreate their look. I know all the best shops in Seattle. We could go some time?"

I couldn't help but be amazed at how Alice was able to know so much about a person from the most basic interactions. I had only just decided that I wanted to get some more clothes two days ago and Alice already found a way to invite me shopping.

"That would actually be really helpful." I replied, shifting in my seat. "Bella and I are meant to go to Seattle sometime soon, but she _really_ hates shopping for clothes."

"It's a date." Alice giggled. "I think we should go in three weeks' time. I believe it should be nice enough weather that we could both enjoy it."

Looking out at the sky, I wonder what made her think that three weeks would make a large difference. "Sounds great, Alice."

"We'll discuss details closer to the time." She said. "We can pick your mother up something pretty, too."

That was kind of her to suggest. "Oh my God." I gasped, "My mum's birthday is in a month." My eyes were wide, before I realised that we'd be going to Seattle before then. "So, three weeks' time is actually _perfect_."

She gave me a knowing smile. "I think I know just what to get her."

"Are you sure? My mother isn't exactly the gift type. She's all about nature." I explain, trying to think about what to get her this year. Last year I had just bought her a range of her favourite flowers.  
"Trust me." She pushed, "I'm amazing at giving gifts. There are multiple smaller shops in Seattle that sell a range of witchy gothic nature type jewellery and clothes. I think she'd really love the items they sell."

Pausing to think it over, I thought my mum would actually adore that kind of gift. "That's an amazing plan."

Alice beamed before turning towards our teacher as the lesson started.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Alice was clairvoyant.

 **-x-x-x-**

Meeting up with everybody at break, I felt a lot better than I had that morning.

"Wow." I heard Mike say, "It's snowing."

"Ew." Bella quickly mumbled, picking a snowflake out of her hair.

Mike looked at her as though she had just punched a puppy. "Don't you like snow?"

"No. That means it's too cold for rain. Besides, I thought it was supposed to come down in flakes – you know, each one unique and all that. These just look like the ends of Q-tips."

I stifled a laugh at Bella's obvious hatred for the snowfall already. Personally, I expected nothing less from her. I remember once back in Phoenix, when I had offered her an ice-cream and she batted it away from her for being 'too cold'.

"Haven't you ever seen snow fall before?" Mike asked her.

"Sure, I have." Liar. "On TV." There you go.

I laughed, "Bella has more chance of eating a spider than ever wanting to stay outside in the snow for longer than she has to."

Mike didn't have much time to respond before a snowball hit him right on the cheek. Looking over, I saw Tyler hunched over laughing next to a small pile of three snowballs.

"Watch yourself, Michael!" He yelled, "Enemies everywhere!" With that, he swiftly picked up the premade snowballs and ran off behind a table, seeking out his next target. I hoped it was Lauren.

"I'll see you at lunch, okay?" Bella called to me. "Once people start throwing wet stuff, I go inside."

Letting out a soft laugh, I nodded to her, letting her know I'd see her later.

Once left alone, I was happy to see that everyone at school was laughing and running around in the snow; apparently it was the first one of the year.

However, left alone, I had nothing to fend off the thoughts of my brother. He would have loved to be here right now, he was a master when it came to snowball fight tactics, he never lost. It was the main reason why I always fought for children against parents; there was no way I was going to choose the losing team.

The pain in my head and my stomach returned.

The sudden freezing cold seemed to make it even harder for me to breathe. I felt myself beginning to panic. I had to calm down, I had to try and calm down. I couldn't have a breakdown here, not now. Calm down, calm down, calm down.

My mind flashed to the dream I had the night before, as my eyes glanced all around the yard until they found what I needed.

Golden eyes.

Before I could contemplate anything, I was up and making my way over. I barely registered the fact he was stood with Alice, I barely registered when my walk became a run. And as I jumped into his arms, I hardly noticed him open them up in waiting for me.

The last thing I expected was for him to hold me tightly against his body as I let out a huge breath.

But there it was. The overwhelming calm that always came with his presence. I knew that it was him. I knew that it was no coincidence that I felt calm every time I was near to him or caught his eye.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, as I felt myself being lowered to my feet. "I don't know why, but… I just need to be around you right now…" I explained, looking down at our feet.

His ice-cold finger was under my chin in less than a second, raising my eyes to meet his. "Anything you need…" Jasper started. " _Anything_."

"Why don't you take her for a walk, Jazz?" Alice chimed in from the side. "I doubt anyone would judge her for taking the next two periods off."

He looked between the two of us, offering his arm out to me. "Only if you want to."

I found my body moving on it's own accord as I accepted his arm and agreed to skip my next two lessons. The idea of being away from him for Gym right now felt unbearable. The idea of having to concentrate on anything other than the calm feeling I now felt seemed ridiculous.

"Thank you." I said softly once we were away from the school.

"For what, exactly?" I heard him ask, though I couldn't bring myself to look at him.

Sighing, I came to a halt as we reached a bench. "I don't know… For being here?" Laughing at how ridiculous I sounded, I felt the need to elaborate. "You have this strange calming effect on me. If I hadn't have met you and this had happened to me… I just don't know what I would have done."

"I'm grateful that I'm able to help you." Jasper said, taking hold of my hand. "It's not often that anyone can solely rely on me for help; I'm usually the one in need of a crutch."

Not being able to picture it, I wondered what on Earth Jasper could possibly need help with. I wondered what he struggled with, how often he needed someone to be there for him because of it. It made me feel sort of pained to imagine him struggling with anything, his face was too perfect to ever be twisted into frustration or distress.

But as soon as my feelings of pain surfaced, they were gone. Replaced by the same wave of calm I had ran to Jasper for.

"Are you doing alright?" He asked me, "I know you don't wish to talk about it, but you can…"

Something that I only realised in that moment, was that the sadness I was feeling for my brother was still there. It was just the panicked distress that was gone. With that, my eyes began to tear up once more.

"I miss him…" I whispered, not knowing if I would be able to continue my thoughts until I felt Jasper gently squeeze my hand in reassurance. "I miss him so much that it hurts… And now that I know he might be gone… I just don't know if the pain will ever go away. I keep trying not to think about it, but… Even when I manage to find something to distract me from my thoughts…" I paused taking a deep breath. "Nothing actually makes me feel better. Not completely."

He pulled me slightly closer to him then, as I softly cried into his shoulder I felt one of his hands move over my hair in a comforting stroke. "Have you stopped to wonder what he would say to you in this situation?" He asked me. "What would he tell you if he were in my place with you right now?"

Sniffling, I thought back to the times he would come home to visit us. I would get upset every time he was getting ready to leave again, and he would tell me the same thing each time. "Don't be sad… If you think that anything would stop me from getting back to you then you really don't know me at all."

"I know it's hard for you to believe that right now." Jasper said, forcing me to look at him. "But he will make it back to you. I _promise_."

" _I'll see you soon. I promise."_

"You really believe that?" I asked, wiping away the remainder of my tears. "You believe it so much that you're willing to make such a daring promise?"

"I do."

For some strange reason, I believed him. Not only because both him and Alice seemed so sure of what they were telling me, but I just didn't feel like he was gone.

I felt a deep pain, knowing that he was missing. And I couldn't help myself but worry about him and what news we would hear next. But surely, if he were truly gone, I would _know_?

"Do ever think that's it's possible to feel that someone is still alive? Even if they're nowhere near you?" I asked, fully expecting him to think I was crazy.

A small smile tugs at his lips before he responds. "Yeah, I really do."

And I found myself smiling in return. "Thank you for being here for me, Jasper." I said, before reaching out and grasping his hand in mine. "If you ever need me for anything, if you ever need my help or _anything_ … Just let me know, okay?"

He looked taken back, as though that was the last thing he expected me to say to him. But his eyes held an emotion that I had never seen directed at me before, and I didn't want to believe that it was the emotion he was actually feeling. But amongst the feeling of calm that was constantly sweeping through me, I felt it surface… Love.

"I'll let you know, ma'am." He smiled, rising to his feet. "We should return to the school. People will start wondering where you've gone."

"Yeah." I said, shaking my head, ridding myself of the insane thoughts that I just had. "Bella will probably stress out if she doesn't see me at lunch."

"You're welcome to sit with my family and I. Alice has been rather keen to spend more time with you recently." He informed me, as he offered me his arm.

Accepting his offer, I couldn't help but voice my thoughts. "You know, you're like the stereotypical southern gentleman." I laughed softly, "You're nothing like the guys of this generation, it's like you were raised in a different time."

"Is that such a terrible thing?" He asked with a smirk.

"No." How on Earth could that possibly be a bad thing? "I think it's amazing." I assure him, before a question enters my mind. "So, what does someone like you struggle with? If you don't mind me asking."

He smiled to himself, "I don't mind at all… I have a problem with being around other people."

"Like, social anxiety?" I questioned, uncertain of what he meant.

His head tilted from side to side. "Kind of like that."

"How does that even happen? People would worship you if you asked them to… Well, at least girls would." Smirking, I noticed him pat my hand.

"It's not really about that, it's hard to explain." He told me, "You make it better, though."

"How so?"

His silence stretched for a few minutes, until we had reached the school; just in time for the lunch bell.

"Honestly? I have absolutely no idea." He admitted.

It seemed that our time together was coming to an end as Alice appeared next to us. How, I have no idea, because she had been nowhere in sight a few seconds ago.

"Hey guys." She smiled. "Lexi, I was wondering if you could come sit with me and Rosalie? I think the guys are away to get into a big snowball fight, and trust me that's not something you want to be a part of."

"Erm…" I couldn't really think of a reason not to. Although, the idea of sitting near Rosalie wasn't the most endearing thought; every time I noticed her in the hallway or anywhere else around the school, she always had a deep scowl – glaring at everyone who passed her. "Sure, why not?"

"Great!" Linking her arm with mine, we started on our way to the cafeteria. "Don't worry Jasper, I'll keep her happy."

"I don't doubt it, ma'am." He beamed.

"Now," She said, turning her attention back to me as we walked through the double doors. "The one thing to remember about Rosalie is that she's hard to deal with at first. But don't worry, she'll come around to you."

Something told me that was hard to believe as we came to the table and found Rosalie already glaring daggers at me. But, as I sat down, the glare softened. She looked at me with confusion instead, as though I was some strange mythical creature that she thought couldn't possibly exist.

"Hey," I decided to make the first move. "I'm Alexis."

"Rosalie." She said boarding a soft tone, looking towards Alice.

"We're going to be great friends." Alice says, bumping my shoulder with her own.

 **-x-x-x-**

"Why is he suddenly back?" Bella asked me, talking about Edward Cullen, who had suddenly made a reappearance at school today. "And more importantly, what's with the sudden attitude adjustment?"

Thankfully, after my emotional relief with Jasper, everyone seemed to do their best to act like everything was back to normal. Edward's return seemed to be a good enough distraction for the population of Forks High School, everyone whispering about where he'd been.

"I honestly don't know, Bells." I responded, leaning against her truck. "Why is it such a bad thing anyway? You were angry when he was rude to you and now you're angry he was nice? Can the guy not win?"

Shooting me a glare, she searched through her bag for her keys. "It's not about that, Lex. It's the fact he just came back and assumed he could act as though last week never happened."

"Maybe it didn't?" I asked, "Maybe your opinion was just clouded by everything you were hearing, so you just assumed he was acting weird towards you?"

"I'm not overreacting, he was acting like I was this awful thing. I'm telling you, I wasn't assuming anything."

Before I could say anything else, my phone started vibrating from my pocket. Taking it out, I glanced at the screen to see that my mother was calling me. I felt myself tense, not wanting to even think about what the phone call could be about.

"Lex?" Bella asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay? Do we need to go now?"

Shaking my head, I gave her a small smile. "No, I'll just see what she wants." I said, answering the phone.

"Lexi." My mother said down the phone, her tone calm, reassuring me that whatever she was away to tell me wasn't to do with my brother. "Pepper got out again, you may want to keep an eye out."

"Again?" I sighed. "How did she even-?" Cutting myself off, I decided it wasn't really important. "Okay. I'm sure she'll find me."

"Alright, be safe, love."

Honestly, my mother's calm tone was quite relieving. She must have convinced herself that Adam was okay. Otherwise, she'd still be a wreck right now.

" _I'll see you soon. I promise."_

Had she had a dream like mine? It was so lifelike; so real. It was hard to believe that he wasn't truly there with me in my mind.

"Pepper has gotten out again…" I informed Bella, running a hand through my hair. "First time in Forks."

"We'll go look for her." Bells responded, opening the truck door.

As if on cue, a soft bark was heard from the other side of the parking lot. Turning in the direction that I was sure Pepper was in, I saw her hopping around a select few students.

The Cullens.

"Great." I sighed. "Pepper!" I called, slightly jogging over.

Hearing my voice, the little dog turned towards me with her tongue sticking out of her mouth. It was the happiest that I'd seen her in a while.

Opening my arms, I watched as she ran to me and leaped up into them. "You have to stop doing this, Pep."

"She's adorable." I heard Alice chime as she appeared next to me. "Does she often meet you from school."

"It happened way too many times back in Phoenix. I was hoping that it would be different here." I responded. "I'm sorry, everyone back there used to get annoyed with her jumping up at them."

A soft laugh caught my attention from a little far away. "I think we can handle it."

Looking over, I saw Jasper with a small smile. "She'll still destroy you." I smirked.

Raising an eyebrow in response, he returned the smirk. "I accept the challenge."

"We should get going." Edward cut in, giving Alice a pointed look.

As he locked eyes with me, I blinked and saw the same red eyes I was sure I'd seen Alice with not long ago. But within less than a second they were gone.

Edward's eyes slightly squinted towards me, as if trying to understand something. He looked almost panicked in a way.

Taking that as my cue to go, I watched as the other Cullen's turned towards him.

Making my way back to Bella, I quickly got into the truck with Pepper, trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Are you okay?" Bella asked, getting in beside me. "You look freaked."

Shaking my head, I let out a faint laugh. "It seems like that's all that people ask me now." Shoving my hand into my hair again, I leaned again the window. "I'm fine, Bells. Can we just take Pepper home? Honestly, I'm exhausted and I think I'm ready to sleep for the next week."

Glancing over at the Cullen's, they were all looking towards the truck.

Did Edward see something like I did? Did he see me with horns or something? Maybe Forks just made people paranoid; made them see things or assume the worst.

Maybe I should have begged my father to stay in Phoenix?

 **-x-x-x-**

 **A/N: Had some personal relationship drama. Haven't felt the love so couldn't bring myself to even look at this story.**

 **But I'm back now. This year seems to have been a long one. Hopefully it gets better now, so that I can actually update on a regular basis.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter anyway, I'll look over it again later and possibly make changes. I'm not sure.**

 **~fawningfantasy x**


	10. Miracles Do Happen

**Chapter 10: Miracles Do Happen**

 **-x-x-x-**

" _Nobody knows you,_

 _The way that I know you,_

 _Look in my eyes,_

 _I will never desert you."_

You Me At Six – Take On The World

 **-x-x-x-**

The ground was fully covered in snow again.

For the first time in days, I felt peaceful. I couldn't explain why; I just had a feeling that everything was finally going to be alright.

As I entered the kitchen, I found my mother humming over the pancakes that she was making. She looked at ease, almost happy. Casting a quick glance towards my father, I saw him staring at my mother with amazement.

"Morning, love." My mum cheerfully called over to me, placing a plate down in front of me for breakfast. "Eat up, won't you? Busy day today."

Scrunching my eyebrows together in confusion, I sat down at the table. "Busy day? How so?"

"Just trust me. It'll be a busy day." She smiled, a mischievous glint in her eye.

Sharing a look with my father, we both shrugged, deciding to go with whatever my mum was saying.

"Can you just do me a favour and make sure Pepper doesn't get out today? It's ridiculous how many times this happens, mum." I sighed, shoving a pancake into my mouth.

A soft yip came from my side, Pepper apparently deciding to join the conversation. Watching as she glanced between me and the pancake on my fork, I "accidentally" dropped it onto the floor.

"Only if you stop feeding her whatever she wants." Mum scolded.

Smirking, I laughed at Pepper who was wagging her tail happily at me.

"I shouldn't be working long today." My dad informed us, turning his attention to mum. "I should be back home around about lunch time, we'll do something together."

As I listened to them talk about a trip to the La Push beach, I couldn't help but feel like things shouldn't be this normal today. Adam was still missing, yet mum seemed to have forgotten all about that. I myself, shouldn't feel so perfectly content today. Today wasn't a good day, there wouldn't be any good days until Adam was safe and home… So why couldn't I feel sad?

 **-x-x-x-**

"How is it even icier than it was yesterday?" Bella complained as we slowly made our way to school in her truck. "Honestly, can we just go back to Phoenix now?"

Sighing, I shook my head with a smile. "It's not a terrible thing, Bells. I think you would enjoy a snowball fight. Think of how many people would avoid you if you had snowballs ready to throw in their faces? It's the antisocial dream."

"I'm not antisocial." She stuttered out. "I just like quiet sometimes…"

Raising an eyebrow at her in disbelief, I knew that she was only being slightly honest. Bella found it difficult to communicate with almost anyone, so instead chose to avoid basically everyone. The people of Forks were making it extremely difficult for her, and I saw every day how panic flashed through her eyes as she was expected to join in on girl or sports talk.

"You would think we'd get the day off school with the weather." She mumbled, pulling into a parking space.

"If they closed the school for bad weather in Forks then no one would ever graduate." I snickered. "Just breathe in the fresh cool air, Bella. It's good for you." I finished, hopping out of the truck.

Slipping slightly on the ice next to the truck, I quickly regained my balance.

"Breathe in the fresh air, Lex." Bella mocked from the other side of the truck. "It's good for you."

Glaring in her direction, I said "Don't make me come after you, Bells. We both know that even if I'm clumsy on any ice patches, you'll be ten times worse."

As I made my way round the truck, I slipped on another patch of ice. Just as I expected to hit the floor, two arms caught me before I could tumble to the ground.

"You should be more careful, ma'am." I heard a familiar voice say, his tone making it obvious that when I turned around I would see a smirk on his face.

Glancing up, I saw the golden eyes that had become a permanent part of my everyday life.

"Remember when you used to just stare awkwardly? It was a simpler time." I deadpanned, shifting so that I was stood upright again.

Smiling slightly at the ground, he gave a quick glance over to Bella. Awkwardly giving her a nod of acknowledgment before pulling me over to a side.

"I wanted to check how you were doing." He said, his tone suddenly serious. "Edward thought he saw you look quite panicked before you left yesterday."

Eyes squinting in confusion, I glanced over at the Cullen's cars. Seeing Edward looking over this way intently. "I'm fine, Jasper. Why would anything panic me?"

As I turned back to Jasper, he was staring at me almost quizzically. As though he was searching for something in me.

"Are you okay?" I asked, lightly grasping his arm.

The overwhelming feeling of calm that I was becoming accustomed to appeared as Jasper slightly smiled once more.

"How could anything possibly be wrong right now?" He said, staring at me in a way I wasn't quite familiar with.

Before I could say anything in return, the sound of tires screeching caught my attention. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Tyler's van skidding across the parking lot, heading straight for my best friend.

"Bella!" I called, seeing her frozen in shock. My feet moved before my mind could comprehend what I was doing, running straight for her.

But I didn't get far before I was being dragged away and slammed back into a car.

The loud thud that echoed across the lot was drowned out by the noise of my blood pumping through my ears. On either side of me, were deep handprints embedded into the car I was pressed against. Jasper's own hands fitting perfectly in them.

"How?" I asked, my mind racing. "How did you- "

My sentence was swiftly cut off by the same icy hands cupping my face, forcing me to stare into Jasper Hale's eyes.

"Are you alright?" He asked, his voice sounding as though it was being forced out of his throat. "Are you hurt?"

Trying to look back at the dents I knew I would find, his grip forced me to look back into his eyes once more, his face only inches from my own.

"Are you alright?" He repeated, his eyes filled with panic and worry.

"I'm fine." My voice came out as almost a whisper, "I'm okay…"

With that his hands freed my face, instead choosing to envelope me into his arms. And for a few seconds, my mind went blank. My eyes closing as I reciprocated the hug, relishing in the sudden feeling of relief that was coursing through my body.

But my mind snapped back full force, my eyes widening. "Bella." Turning away from Jasper, I quickly ran around to my best friend. "Bells are you okay?"

Her eyes seemed unable to focus on anything, glancing around every which way, looking for something. "Edward…" She mumbled.

Tilting my head, I watched as she continued her search, the sirens of the ambulance blaring as it made an appearance.

 **-x-x-x-**

"Are you sure you're okay?" My dad asked for the 10th time since I arrived at the hospital with Bella.

Edward had been caught up by some other students concerned that he might also have been hit by the truck, all of them seeing that he had apparently saved Bella from almost certain death. Although no one seemed to know how, they only saw him try to leave the scene as soon as it happened, emerging from in between the two vehicles.

"I'm sure, dad." I sighed, slightly aggravated. "For the last time, it was Bella that was actually involved, not me."

"Only because of Doctor Cullen's son." He argued.

Sighing, I lent against the wall in the waiting room. I had told him about the fact that Jasper had dragged me away from trying to get to Bella, that he was probably the only reason I myself had not been injured in any way.

"I'm inviting him round for dinner. It's the least I can do." My father went on to talk to himself. "That Jasper boy has done nothing but good things for you since you got here. We need to do something."

"Dad." I cut him off from rambling on further. "If I agree to ask him to come round to the house will you _please_ go check on Bella for me and leave me alone? I'm fine."

He looked as though leaving my side was the last thing that he wanted to do right now. But after a few seconds, he sighed and nodded his head. "Alright. I'll go check on her, I'll let you know if she's okay."

With that, he walked swiftly off towards where Bella had been taken, only stopping for a few seconds to tell me he'd called my mother to tell her what had happened.

I sat down on one of the waiting room chairs with a sigh, watching as Jasper Hale walked into the room, looking around before his eyes focused on me, making a beeline right for the seat next to mine.

"How's Bella?" He asked, sitting down.

"I don't know." I replied, looking towards the double doors. "My dad just went to check on her. He's freaking out about the whole thing."

"Maybe because his daughter tried to run into a skidding van." Jasper said, dryly.

Looking over at him, I noticed he was looking anywhere but at me. "My best friend was in danger."

"All that would have happened is that you both would have been killed." He said, anger seeping into his tone. "It was a terrible judgement call."

"Edward did the exact same thing." I quipped. "How, I have no idea, cause he was at the other side of the parking lot."

His eyes finally snapped towards mine. "He was probably already on his way to talk to her, you just didn't see him move."

"And what about you?" I asked, remembering the few seconds right after the accident. The dents in the car flashing into my mind.

"What about me?"

Shifting in my chair so that I was directly facing him, I lent in to whisper. "I saw the dents that your hands made into the car, Jasper. How did you even manage to do that?"

"Heat of the moment. You haven't heard of mother's picking up cars to save children?" He answered, raising an eyebrow.

It almost felt as though he was calling me a child. I understood that I had made a stupid decision, knowing that even if I had attempted to save Bella, there would have been absolutely nothing that I could have done. I would have been crushed.

Choosing to let it go, I shook my head. "I'm sorry."

His look turned to confusion.

"You saved my life, I should be thanking you, not questioning you." I sighed, looking around the room before my eyes focused back onto his. "Thank you, Jasper."

His eyes scanned my face, as though he expected something completely different to happen, before leaning in closer, his eyes intense. "I would never let anything happen to you, Alexis."

I couldn't find any words to say out loud. Hearing him speak in such a way caught me off guard, hearing him sound so sincere. How he managed to feel so strongly, so passionately about keeping me safe in such a short amount of time knowing me was incredible.

"Ahh Mr Cullen." I heard my dad say as he approached us. "How nice of you to check in on Lex."

"It's Hale, sir." Jasper corrected. "Rosalie and I kept our parent's names."

My father reached his arm out to shake Jasper's hand, saying a quick apology. "Cold hands, are you feeling alright? You didn't sustain any injuries protecting my daughter, did you?"

"No, sir." Jasper brushed off, taking his hand back. "Just bad circulation."

"Sir. What a polite young man." My dad smirked, nudging me with his elbow.

" _Dad_." I stressed, I couldn't believe what he was doing. I knew my father wasn't like most other dad's, but what kind of parent grins at the idea of matchmaking their daughter?

"Did Lex invite you to our house for dinner yet?"

"I didn't really have the chance to." I sighed, trying to figure out a way to get Jasper away from my father.

"Oh, well, I'll do it then." He grinned. "As a thank you we would love to invite you over for dinner. The least we can do for someone who would help our daughter stay out of trouble."

Jasper gave a quick glance over to me before responding. "I would love to, sir. But my mother, Esme, she insists that we all have dinner together as a family every night. No exceptions."

"Strong family bond. We'd insist the same if we believed we could separate Lexi and Bella for more than a few hours sleep." He snorted.

Rolling my eyes, I still couldn't seem to form an escape route.

"How about coming round for a movie night?" My dad offered instead. "We like to do one every now and then, you can come round before dinner on the weekend. How does Saturday sound?"

Jasper seemed taken off guard, looking between me and my father, as though judging what my reaction would be.

Sighing, I thought I'd try and help my dad out. "You should come. He won't stop making different offers until you accept one." I said, smiling softly.

Jasper returned with a slight smile of his own before turning back to my father. "I would love to, sir."

"Don't worry about calling me sir from now on, son." My dad beamed, clapping his hand on Jasper's shoulder. "It's Andrew."

"Andrew." Jasper repeated, nodding his head in acknowledgment.

Looking between the pair, I figured that the conversation was over. "So, how's Bella?" I asked.

Turning his attention back to me, he smiled. "She's doing just fine. She just needs to stay for a few routine checks. So, I think it's best that we head home to your mother. She sounded calm, even happy, over the phone… But I think she's fooling herself to stop from panicking, Lex."

Nodding, I told him that I'd meet him outside once he'd changed and sorted things out in his office.

"I'll walk with you, I need to leave anyway." Jasper said, as we turned a corner to leave the hospital.

I noticed that he kept quite close to me the entire walk to the front, his face and eyes conveying his discomfort.

"Are you okay? You seem on edge." I ask, studying his features.

He looked at me, eyes widening slightly before letting out and awkward chuckle. "I'm just fine, I just don't do so well in hospitals."

"I don't think anyone really enjoys being in a hospital to be fair." I smile, coming to a stop as I see Jasper's brother not far in front of us.

Edward's eyes seemed intense as he stalked towards us. "How did you see that yesterday?" He asked, standing directly in front of me, his features angry.

"Excuse me?" I responded, slightly aggravated by his accusing tone.

"You saw me with red eyes, how did you do that?" He asked again, his tone almost acidic.

I could feel my eyes widen in shock at his words. How the hell did he see that? How did he know?

"How did you-?" I didn't manage to get the full question out before Jasper stepped slightly in between the two of us.

"Edward." He warned, his tone hard. "Leave her be."

The two of them stared at each other, almost in a silent conversation, before Edward look at me with one final look of suspicion before walking away towards the waiting room.

"What was that?" I asked Jasper, grasping hold of his arm so that he'd turn to face me. "How does he know what I saw? I haven't told anyone about it."

"What _did_ you see?" He asked me in return.

My mouth gaped open, realising that I would technically have to talk about it now. It was the only way I was even possibly going to be able to figure out how Edward knew about it in the first place. I hadn't even told Bella about what I'd seen.

Glancing around to make sure there was no one listening, I decided to tell the truth. "I don't know what I saw, Jasper." I sighed. "Honestly, since moving to Forks I'm pretty sure I've been going slightly insane…" My voice trailed off into a whisper, realising that I could never say everything I wanted to.

I couldn't tell him about the weird dreams about his eyes, the weird feeling of calm that comes with him, or the strange pictures I get in my head about his entire family. I didn't know which reaction would be worse from him. If he thought I was crazy, he would no doubt leave me alone and never speak to me again, the idea of which was something I wasn't prepared to deal with yet. The only other option would be that he wouldn't find me crazy, in which case he would be able to shed some light onto everything I've been dealing with, which would mean that it was all real…

"You're not insane…" He told me, running a hand down my arm in comfort. "I can promise you that."

"What does that even mean?" I asked, feeling almost tired of everything that was happening.

"Lexi." My dad piped up from behind me, making his way towards us. "You ready to go?"

Nodding, I turned towards Jasper once more. "Do you have a way of getting home?"

"Yeah, I'll get home just fine." He smiled, although the smile didn't reach his eyes.

Walking out of the building with the pair of them, I froze. There was no way that I could possibly be seeing what I thought I was. It was another hallucination, another fantasy. It was an impossible thing.

"Adam?" I heard my dad ask. Causing me to believe that what I was seeing was real after all.

Adam was really stood there? Standing next to my mother, who was beaming from ear to ear.

"Hey," Adam replied, a sheepish smile gracing his face. "Mum thought it'd be best if you actually saw me okay instead of hearing it over the phone."

I watched as my father hugged my brother tightly to him, his eyes filling with tears of relief. But I myself couldn't move, I could barely breathe. I was frozen, unable to consider anything what so ever. I couldn't believe that he was actually here, afraid that if I so much as took one step forward, then he would disappear in a puff of smoke like he did in my dream.

"Hey Lex." He said, as my father released him.

I felt the tears well up in my eyes, my heart suddenly beating at an alarming rate. In a second, I was running into his arms. My arms wrapped around his neck as he picked me up into the tightest hug of my existence.

He was here.

My brother was home, he was alive and safe. And _here_.

I felt myself sob into his shoulder as he held me tightly. "It's okay, Lex. I'm right here."

"I can't believe you're okay." I sniffled, finally returning to the ground, looking up at him. "You're okay."

"I'm okay." He reassured, his hands resting on my shoulders. "I made it out, I made it back, I'm here. I told you before that I'd never leave you."

Wrapping my arms around his waist, I hugged myself tightly to him once more as he wrapped his arms around me, resting his head on top of mine.

"Let's go home, love." My mother said calmly, "We can have a proper catch up."

Nodding, I let go of Adam, although I was terrified that the second I wasn't in contact, then he would suddenly be gone, and I would wake up from a dream.

As my family made their way to the car, my parents fussing over Adam again, I turned to see Jasper still stood there, smiling at me.

Before going to the car, myself, I walked over to Jasper and wrapped my arms around him in a hug. He stiffened in surprise for a second, before returning the hug gently. "Thank you." I whispered.

"What for?" He asked, as I let him go.

"For keeping me calm until now." I smiled. "I really needed it. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

With a quick squeeze of his arm, I turned and went to join my family.

Looking at Adam, I still couldn't believe it.

Miracles do happen.

 **-x-x-x-**

 **A/N: He is safe. He is alive. All is well with the world.**

 **Let me know what you guys think! I love seeing when people follow/favourite/review this story. It gives me the need to update. I know this update has come a lot quicker than the last, it's just because I feel bad with how long it took me to update it before.**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

 **((I know he came back safe super quick, but it's to get into the rest of the story, stuff is away to happen, and this is just the way it's going soooo.))**

 **Also, after a review, I feel I should say that Adam's story will be told next chapter. Also, it will be revealed as to why Edward was so ready to talk openly about the whole thing so, yeah, just be patient for that xD**

 **~fawningfantasy x**


	11. Revelations

**Chapter 11: Revelations**

 **-x-x-x-**

" _Let these words, be the first,_

 _To find your ears._

 _The world is brighter than the sun,_

 _Now that you're here."_

Sleeping At Last – Light

 **-x-x-x-**

The school had thankfully given me a few days off to be with my brother after his surprise return.

It had taken a few hours for Adam to open up to us about what he had been through out there, what he endured to get home to us.

Overall, I found it difficult to fully look at him most of the time, a scar spread across the side of his face from where a building had apparently collapsed onto him and his team, trapping them for a while. They had been out scouting when they decided to check an underground bunker that they had found; the building nearby collapsing and trapping them underground.

When we had gotten the letter informing us of him being missing, it had been after a week of no contact. Adam and a few others had survived the initial impact and had been solely surviving on the few supplies that they had with them.

They had been starting to lose hope of making it out of the rubble, of finally being able to make it back to their base, when Adam suddenly felt a new found urge to get home.

He didn't explain what had changed for him to suddenly fight harder, just that he had found it suddenly extremely important to get out and come home.

"I don't know what to tell you." He said, "I wanted to get out, I wanted to get home. But it wasn't until that day that I had the energy to actually work to achieve that."

"The only thing that matters is that you're home, dear." My mother reassured, grasping hold of his hand. "I'm so happy that you're safe."

Smiling back at her, he seemed to finally relax, his story told. "Everything would have been okay if our radios hadn't been messed up after the building collapsed. All of this could have been avoided."

I had been sat next to Adam on the couch throughout the story, refusing to leave his side. "At least they got you home fast. Would have been nice of them to contact us and let us know you were okay, though."

"That it would have been." He responded with a sigh, wrapping an arm around me. "But then I wouldn't have been able to come home and see you, would I, Lexi Bear?"

I beamed. He had called me Lexi Bear throughout our childhood, referring to my red hair. It wasn't exactly a flattering nickname, but it was just nice being able to hear it again after all the worry.

He quickly pulled me into a hug as I felt tears sting my eyes once more. "It's alright, I'm okay."

Sniffling, I nodded into his t-shirt. "You are. You're okay."

 **-x-x-x-**

That weekend, we all seemed less emotional.

Adam wanted us all to try and forget that it had ever happened, to focus on the fact that he was alright and that he was going to be home for a week before he had to go back. That he wanted us to do things together before then, as a family.

So, we were hiking.

"You picked the perfect place for nature, guys." Adam beamed towards our parents. "It's amazing here."

"Well I wasn't about to move your mother to another big city was I, son?" My dad laughed. "I think if she had to paint one more modern day building she was going to stab me with a paintbrush."

Mother chimed a laugh, linking her arm with dad's. "I would have been tempted."

"Why did the first thing you suggest have to involve so much walking?" I sighed, "We could have done the beach first, you know?"

"Have you gotten lazy since I left, Lex?" Adam smirked, ruffling my hair as I batted his hand away. "Do you not do your morning runs anymore?"

Shrugging, I looked around the clearing we had come across. "I have a couple of times. My friend Tyler joined me."

" _Tyler_?" He scoffed. "A boy? You're friends with boys? You let her be friends with boys?"

" _Let me_?" I asked, whacking him on the arm. "What are you talking about? Let me?"

Placing his hands on my shoulders, he looked me in the eyes, his tone mockingly dramatic. "Boys only want one thing, I'm going to have to beat the hell out of him."

"Shut up!" I laughed, batting him away from me. "Tyler is a good guy. Anyway, it's dad you should be talking to, he invited a boy to come round to our house one day."

" _What!?_ " He yelled, his pitch high. "You're meant to be the one to chase the guys away."

Rolling his eyes, my father set up a small camp for us to sit for a while. "That boy saved her life, Adam. I believe we owe him more than a movie night."

"I still can't believe you tried to jump in front of a car." He scoffed, flicking my ear.

" _Ow._ " I stressed, rubbing the side of my face. "It was for Bella, it wasn't like I was just doing it for kicks."

"Not good enough." He shook his head, setting his bag down and looking over to a gap in the tree line. "I wonder what's through there."

Looking over to where he was, it looked to me like there would be an opening just after. "We should go look."

As we made our way over, we heard our mother call over for us to be careful and stick together. It almost felt like when we were younger, when Adam and I would run off to find anything and everything that we possibly could.

Walking through the opening, we were greeted by a beautiful scenery.

It was a cliff edge, underneath us just rocks and rubble descending down to the bottom. But in front of us, there was a waterfall, surrounded by greenery and flowers. You could see deer walking around at the bottom, drinking from where the water fell.

"Wow…" I sighed, transfixed by what was before me.

Looking between me and the waterfall a few times, I heard him sigh. But not in content, it was a sigh that meant he was away to tell me something.

"It was you." He said.

"What was me?" I asked, confused.

Eyes not leaving the waterfall, he continued. "The reason why I finally got out. It was you." He explained. "I don't know why, but… I saw you one night. You were stood there, crying, telling me how you couldn't make it without me."

I could feel my eyes widening as he continued, my mind racing back to the first few nights I had found out he was missing.

"All I could do was promise you that I would make it home to you. I hugged you and for a second you even seemed real. If it wasn't for the situation that I was in, I would have honestly believed that you were stood there right in front of me." He sighed, finally looking towards me, his eyes filled with tears. "I couldn't stand the thought of failing you, Lex. I couldn't leave you."

Wrapping my arms around him tightly, I fought off my own tears. "You could _never_ fail me." I told him. "I don't care what you do from now on, you could never fail me. I'm just glad that you're here."

He held me back tightly, as though he didn't want to let me go again. As though if he did, he would never be able to hug me again.

"We should get back to mum." I sniffled, "If we don't she'll get worried. It's been a rough week for her."

 **-x-x-x-**

After the hike, it felt nice to have a family movie night again.

It almost felt as though nothing had happened, as though he had been at home this entire time. He seemed to mould into the new house flawlessly; like he'd moved here before we even did. Pepper had even taken to lying on his lap every possible second.

"I refuse to watch some lovey dovey movie." Adam scoffed as our mother held up a few rom-coms as options.

Laughing, I sat down next to him. "He's right. You should know by now that you're the only one who likes those sorts of movies."

"Just put a zombie film in and be done with it, dear." My father chuckled from his chair. "We all know they'll get their way eventually."

Sighing, my mum picked out 28 Days Later. "One of these days you're going to have to let me have one of my movies. I don't care for these at all. We watch this and then we're watching one of my movies."

As she put the DVD in, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it." I smiled, making my way to the front of the house.

"If it's Bella, tell her that I'm offended it's taken her this long to say hi to me!" My brother called through.

The laugh caught in my throat as I opened the front door.

"Jasper?" I asked, confused. Why was he here?

"Hello." He said, almost awkwardly. "I didn't want to intrude, Carlisle asked me to come and check on you, make sure you were alright after the accident."

"Oh, right." I smiled, shaking my head. "I'm fine, looks like you did a great job at saving me."

Jasper's awkward smile stretched into a fuller grin, as he looked down to the floor. "How truly thankful I am. How is your brother?" He asked, his eyes returning to mine.

"He's alright." I replied. "He's just happy to be home, I think. He wants to move past it, forget that it happened; he doesn't want us to stress out when he goes back."

"Who is it, Lex?" Adam asked, coming to stand next to me.

Turning to look at him, I noticed his jaw tense, eyes suddenly suspicious.

"This is Jasper Hale." I introduced "We go to school together."

My dad must have overheard the small conversation, suddenly appearing into the hallway beside us. "Jasper? What are you doing outside? Come on in." He said, grinning widely.

" _What_?" Adam asked, his tone higher than normal. "You're just going to invite some guy into the house? You're meant to be the father, scare him off."

"Jasper is the boy who stopped Lex from stepping out in front of that truck, the least we can do is invite him in for the movie." Our father scolded him, walking back into the living room.

Adam swiftly went after him, muttering about how I was meant to be grounded until I was 30.

"You don't have to come in if you don't want to." I told Jasper, shifting awkwardly. "But you should know that my dad will just keep offering until you finally accept."

He gave a soft chuckle as he entered the house. "I would love to join your movie night."

As I let him move past me into the house, I suddenly felt nervous. I couldn't be sure as to why, just that I felt extremely shy at the thought of spending the evening watching movies alongside Jasper and my family.

But as I looked up at Jasper, I was instantly calmed by the look in his eyes. He seemed so at peace with the current plan, even if it meant being grilled by my brother about anything and everything.

"What are we watching?" He asked.

Shrugging my shoulders, I started to lead the way to the living room. "28 Days Later and then we'll be forced into a cheesy romance film by my mother."

The following smile that appeared on his face was almost dazzling. "I'll be sure to come up with a believable excuse to leave."

"If you could break me out with you it'd be appreciated." I whispered as we walked into the room together.

He gave a breath of a laugh before turning his attention to my father.

"Ahh, honey, meet Jasper Hale, Dr Cullen's son." He beamed, introducing Jasper to my mother.

But as she turned around with the bright smile that she welcomed everyone with, her smile dropped along with the bowl of popcorn in her hands. She looked terrified, as though her worst nightmare had just entered our home.

"Mum?" I asked, looking between the two of them.

Jasper was suddenly tense, his jaw locked as he held eye contact with my mother.

She finally let out a breath of what I could have sworn was relief, a small embarrassed smile gracing her features.

"My apologies, I don't know what came over me." Mother said, reaching out a hand in greeting.

"Are you alright, mum?" I questioned, watching as the pair shook hands.

"Hm?" She mumbled, barely seeming to register what was happening around her. "Sorry, love, just ignore me. Everything is fine, just had a weird moment."

I didn't believe her for a second, she had the same look in her eyes that I had whenever I thought I'd seen something that wasn't there. The same look I had when I was sure I'd seen red eyes, the look I had in my eyes when I looked at myself in the mirror as the gaping wound disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"If you're sure…" I trailed off, already deciding that I would question her about it later that night.

 **-x-x-x-**

For the duration of the movie, my mother seemed to cheer up every minute.

By the end of the movie I could already tell that Jasper had both of my parent's approval; something I could tell as they kept making hints about the two of us.

My brother on the other hand, couldn't stop glaring, but I knew it was just because he was being my older brother. They had even seemed to bond over certain things, but Adam refused to budge on being angry that Jasper had been invited into the house.

"I mostly just spend my free time reading." Jasper answered my father's question.

"Reading?" My father perked up. "You should see the library that Lex has upstairs, I'm sure she'd let you borrow a few, she has all the classics."

Jasper turned to me with a small smile. "You enjoy old stories?"

"They're more dignified, I find." I answer, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "He's right though, you can borrow anything you want."

"Why don't you show him, Lex?" My dad offered, gesturing to the stairs.

Adam stood up swiftly, looking at my dad as though he was insane. "You're asking him to take your teenage daughter up to her bedroom."

" _Adam_." I stressed. As though this evening wasn't embarrassing enough with my parents throwing him at me. I understand that I've been a bit of a recluse throughout my life and all they ever talk about if future grandchildren, but _damn_.

"I'm sure Lex will follow the open-door rule that you did when you had female friends over, won't you Lex, dear?" My mother smirked.

Honestly, I would do anything to get out of this situation right now, so I stood up and motioned for Jasper to follow me. I could hear Adam protesting to our parents the entire time.

"I'm sorry about them." I said as we walked into my room, watching as his eyes scanned the multiple bookshelves. "To be honest, I'd love to have more but… Money and space, you know?"

The look he gave me was one of contemplation. Although, what he was contemplating, I had no idea.

"I'm sure I have a few old books that I never read, you'd be welcome to have them if you wish?" He offered.

Sitting down on the bed, I shook my head with a laugh. "You don't have to do that. I would love to borrow some though, if you have ones that I don't, that is."

"I think I can arrange that." He smiled, sitting down next to me. "Your bother seems protective."

Placing my head in my hands. "I'm _so_ sorry. Honestly, he's never been like that before."

"So other guys have gotten an easy ride?" He smirked.

Feeling my cheeks heat up, I couldn't bring myself to look at him. "To be fair, now that I think about it, there haven't been any other guys… Nobody has ever really caught my interest."

After a few moments of silence, I finally managed to meet his gaze. It was one of wonder and curiosity; a look that I'd never seen before. A stare that I couldn't look away from.

And suddenly a whole new feeling overwhelmed me. The same feeling that I remembered from when Jasper and I had lunch together a while back. He looked quite perfect to me in this moment, and I almost thought that he might see me in the same way.

But the moment was broken as my bedroom door was swung wide.

"Open-door rule." Adam said, glaring at Jasper.

"The door _was_ open!" I challenged. "I was following the rule."

His glare turned to me as he deadpanned "It was only ajar."

Scoffing, I threw one of my pillows at him. "Get out of here!"

He sent one final glare in Jasper's direction as he headed towards his own room.

Sighing, I stood up from the bed. "Feel free to borrow any of the books you see, I think I should probably get some sleep soon."

"Of course." Jasper said quickly, clearing his throat. "Carlisle will be wondering where I am."

"Right." I smiled.

He picked up one of the books on the shelf, before turning to look at me awkwardly. "About what Edward said in the hospital… I wanted to know if you're alright, if he offended you in any way or… Freaked you out."

"Trust me," I sighed, "I've had to deal with a lot weirder recently."

Jasper looked as though he wanted to ask me another question but obviously thought better of it, slightly nodding at me with a polite smile as we made our way to the front door.

 **-x-x-x-**

"Mum?" I asked in a hushed tone later that night, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Of course, you can, love. What's the matter?" She replied, placing the book she'd been reading on the table next to her.

I figured now would be the best time to ask her what had been plaguing my mind since we had arrived in Forks, Washington.

"Do you ever..?" I trailed off, wandering if asking her about this was a smart decision. "Do you ever see things that aren't really there?"

A spark of recognition was clear in her eyes as she shifted in what appeared to be excitement; not exactly the reaction I was expecting.

Leaning in closer to me, she whispered her question. "What kind of things, love?"

"I don't know…" I sighed, watching my fingers as I fidgeted with them. "Small things, like, a person suddenly having different coloured eyes to what they usually have or… Or marks on you that aren't there."

My mother gave a quick glance over her shoulder to check if the coast was clear before turning back to me, her voice still a whisper. "Meet me in your bedroom in 10 minutes, I think it's finally time that you and I have a conversation." She beamed.

 **-x-x-x-**

 **A/N:**

 **I'm sorry, I'm not overly happy with this chapter. I apologise. I've tried to re-write it many times but it's just not working. I hope you at least kind of enjoyed it? I don't know. I'm sorry.**

 **The next chapter will kind of bring it back into the events of Twilight so, that should be a bit more enjoyable.**

 **I don't know why I went off on the decision to make her brother missing and then bring him back, I don't know. I kinda hate myself for it now but it's happened, and we'll move past it.**

 **I finally have a schedule for my weeks now. So, I can finally set a specific day each week when this will be updated. So, from now on, every Wednesday you will be seeing an update of Eyes So Strange.**

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **Sorry again,**

 **~fawningfantasy x**


	12. Just Read The Book

**Chapter 12: Just Read The Book.**

 **-x-x-x-**

" _Now I live a waking life,_

 _Of looking backwards,_

 _Looking backwards._

 _A model citizen of doubt."_

Sleeping At Last – Pluto

 **-x-x-x-**

In the passenger's seat of Bella's truck on the way to school, I found my mind wandering to the conversation that my mother and I had had. My thoughts consumed by the insanity of it all, the impossibility of it all.

I could only just register that Bella was saying anything at all, unable to absorb any of the actual words that she was sending my way.

There was one rule that my mother made undoubtably clear to me the night before.

I can't tell Bella.

 **-x-x-x-**

" _What is with all the secrecy?" I asked as my mother entered my room, holding a large book in her hands. "What is that?"_

" _I'm going to explain everything, Lex. Just give me a moment to try and remember how my mother told me." She mumbled, sitting down on my bed, placing the large book onto my bedside table. "It's really hard to explain without sounding crazy."_

 _Looking around my room awkwardly, I felt the silence heavy in the room. "Maybe you just shouldn't tell m-"_

" _You're a witch." She blurted out._

 _I stood frozen, my eyes wide as I stared at the serious face of my mother. After a few seconds, I could feel myself start to laugh hysterically. "You can't be serious."_

" _Alexis. I'm being extremely serious right now." She stressed._

 _Feeling tears start to well up in my eyes, I couldn't tell if it was from laughter or fear. Although, if it was fear then I didn't know which fear it actually was. Was I afraid that she was telling me the truth? Or was I afraid that my wonderful mother had gone even more insane than me since moving here?_

 _My laughter died down as I realised my mother wasn't going to suddenly yell 'psych' and leave the room._

" _Mum, you realise that there is no way that's possible?" I asked, sitting down next to her, my eyebrows creasing in confusion._

" _It is entirely possible, and it is the truth." She started, grasping hold of one of my hands. "You are a witch. Much like myself and my mother and a lot of the other woman in our ancestry."_

 _Shaking my head, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. There was no way this was real, I was debating going to get my father to tell him everything that she was saying… He worked in a hospital, surely he knew where she could get help._

" _Lex, I know this sounds crazy, but it's true." She tried to reason with me. "I refused to believe my mother when she told me, but I came to realise that she was right. Lex, these things you've been seeing, you're seeing them for a reason."_

" _There is no way that I could possibly be seeing the things that I have been seeing for any kind of reason." I quipped, standing up and pacing the length of my room. "I've seen terrible things that aren't there, there is no way that any of it could possibly mean anything."_

 _My mother sighed, as she took the book back into her hands. "This book has been passed down through generations. I myself haven't had much use for it, maybe for helping nature around us, but apart from that… I think you might need to read it more than I ever have."_

" _Helping nature? What do you mean?" I asked._

" _Witches have a close tie to nature. I do my best to make sure the plant life is always doing well, it's why I love being here, why you no doubt feel more awake and happier here than you did back in Phoenix… Nature is everything to us, Lex. Not just the trees and the ocean, but the animals too." She explained, seeming to get quite excited. "How do you think Pepper has always been able to find you? It's because of this, it's because of what you are."_

 _Shaking my head, I looked towards my faithful puppy before dragging my hands through my hair. "Mum, this is_ _ **insane**_ **.** _There is no way that what you're saying is true. Pepper just happens to find me, it's not a magical thing, it's just coincidence. Or she just has a really good nose. I don't know, but it isn't because I'm a witch."_

 _My mother looked around the room, trying to find the words to get me to believe what she was saying. But it seemed she was coming up short. "Lex, I don't know what else I can say… Just, trust me, read the book."_

 _I looked towards the book that was resting on my bed, feeling slightly repulsed by it. "What about dad and Adam?"_

" _They don't know…" She sighed. "There hasn't been a record of a male witch in centuries, and we aren't allowed to tell anyone about our kind… Not even the people we love. You realise what this means, don't you, Lex? You can't tell anybody. Not your father, not your brother… Not even Bella."_

" _I'm meant to just deal with this insanity by myself?" I scoffed._

" _Just read the book." My mother pleaded. "I'm sure you'll figure out more than one person you can talk to about this."_

 _My head started to hurt with all of this new information and I found it hard to concentrate on anything she was saying. "What? What does that even mean?"_

" _Just read the book." She repeated._

" _Fine." I sighed, turning away._

 _My mother opened my bedroom door, lingering for a little while. "You can't tell Bella, Lex."_

 **-x-x-x-**

"Lex?" Bella's voice brought me back to the present.

"Hm?" I asked, turning to look at her for what felt like the first time all day. "What's up?"

"What's up?" She repeated, looking at me like I was ridiculous. "What's wrong with you? It's like you're in another world."

Shaking my head, I looked back out the window. "It's nothing. I think my mother is just losing it a bit… She doesn't seem to make sense anymore."

"What has she been saying?" Bella asked, as we neared school.

"Nothing." I quickly lied, trying to think of a way to avoid spilling the secret like I knew I would. I always told Bella everything. "Although, Jasper came around when we were having a movie night. When my mum saw him, she looked terrified for a moment."

"Terrified? What did she have to be terrified of? Your brother attacking him?" She laughed.

Letting out a soft laugh, I shook my head once more. "I have no idea, it was really weird. Although, Adam was actually kind of tame."

"Probably because he knows you haven't shown any interest in guys before. He'll expect you to go back to being a hermit."

Giving Bella an incredulous look, I let out a scoff. "Seriously? You're calling _me_ a hermit? The only reason why we became friends was because you were alone when I got to Phoenix."

Rolling her eyes, she pulled into a parking space.

Not long after the truck stopped, I was dragged out of the truck and into someone's arms.

"Oh my God, Lex. I am so sorry, I've felt awful all week." I heard Tyler gush as my face was squashed into his chest. "I could have killed you, I feel awful."

"Tyler, I'm fine." I assured him, fighting my way out of his arms. "Bella is fine. We're both fine. Don't worry about it." I laughed.

He looked like he wanted to pull me back into him, but instead tensed his hands into fists by his sides. The look of guilt in his eyes was almost unbearable.

"Seriously, Tyler, stop feeling guilty, we're both completely fine." I try again. "We didn't break anything, hell the only injury was Bella hitting her head and she does that herself every day."

With a brief nudge from Bella, I saw Tyler start to relax slightly.

"I do feel really bad though." He sighed.

Rolling my eyes, I linked my arm through his. "Everything is fine, Ty. Honestly, I expected your driving to be much worse."

Suddenly I was in a light headlock and lightly wrestling with Tyler in the middle of the parking lot.

"C'mon you guys" Jessica called over. "There's important things for the girls to discuss!"

"There is?" I heard Bella ask as I started to walk over. "Like what?"

"Like the Spring Formal, duh. It was just announced that it was going to be girl's choice." Jessica beamed. "We need to discuss who we're all going to ask."

Seeing the immediate look of awkwardness cross Bella's face, I start to drag her away to English. "You know, Jess, you're right that is important." I offered. "But we should really get to class, so we'll talk about it at lunch, okay?"

"Okay." She squealed, turning to Angela.

"I don't want to talk about some dance." Bella moaned.

Sighing, I rolled my eyes as we walked into the room. "I know that, Bells. But now you have a few hours to figure out what you'll use as an excuse not to go."

 **-x-x-x-**

Stepping out of the changing room for gym after break, I suddenly felt someone skip up next to me.

"Hey, Lexi." Alice said sweetly, beaming at me. "You ready for basketball?"

"You mean your family is actually going to be playing?" I asked, thinking about how I'd never seen them join in for a single gym lesson.

"Coach doesn't seem to mind us skipping a lot of activities." She smiled. "We're pretty good so Coach knows that we'll pass with no problem, I'm pretty sure she was mostly charmed by Jasper though."

A teacher charmed by a student. Gross. "Sounds kind of weird, no?" I pondered, seeing Tyler waiting on an empty court.

Alice chimed a laugh as she pulled me to stop. "It's not the weirdest thing, trust me. Hey, are we still good to go to Seattle next Saturday?"

"Yeah." I smiled. "Of course, we are. I'm actually really looking forward to it."

"I know." She smiled, before skipping off to join the rest of the Cullens.

I noticed Jasper give me a slight wave of a greeting, waving back before going to join Tyler.

"I still don't get why the Cullen's are so interested in you." He said, staring over at the pale family.

Stealing the ball off him, I mocked. "It's because I'm amazing."

Smirking, he nodded his head. "Okay. If you're so amazing, I think we should not only have our final challenge, horse basketball, against each other right here, right now… But I think we should make a bet."

"You're really that sure you'll win?" I smirked back. "I think that's highly dangerous for you, Ty."

Shrugging as I passed him back the ball, he carried on with his offer. "If I win, you have to ask me too the Spring Formal."

My smile slightly dropped. If there was one guy who I didn't want interested in me, it was Tyler. He was one of the people I'd grown closest to since moving to Forks and I really didn't want to ruin that.

"Come on." He reasoned. "I think you'll be really charmed by me, Lex." He joked.

Taking the ball back off him, I sighed. "You realise it's meant to be girl's _choice_ right? This doesn't sound like I'll have much of a choice."

"So, you know I'll win then?" He smirked.

My jaw tensed, and even though the more logical side of my mind knew that he was saying that on purpose to get me to agree to the bet… I really couldn't have him think that he would win against me at basketball. I had played too many games with my brother to allow the idea.

"Fine." I started, looking around for an idea of what to ask for if I win. As my eyes lingered on the Cullen's a smirk came to my face. "Alright, but if I win… You have to ask Rosalie to the dance."

His face seemed to drain all life as he looked behind him. Rosalie could be seen with the ever-present scowl, sneering at some students who had been standing too close.

"You're joking." He stammered. "I'll be killed."

Shrugging, I let an innocent smile play on my lips. "I mean, you sound pretty worried that you'll lose, Ty." As I finished my sentence, I threw the ball through the hoop, smirking towards Tyler as I said "H."

Looking between me and the hoop, he looked astonished "We didn't start ye-"

He seemed to realise that I was going for another shot as he quickly intercepted and played against me.

After about 10 minutes, it was clear who was going to win. Tyler had managed to get HO, but I myself had managed to get HORS. He looked like he was starting to get frustrated as I made to play the winning basket. But just as my feet left the ground, I felt his arms wrap around me and pull me in the opposite direction.

"Tyler!" I laughed, "That is so cheating!"

Ty chuckled as he put me down, stealing the ball and putting his own score up to HOR. "I don't know what you're talking about." He smirked.

"I think I win by default." I scoffed, raising an eyebrow.

"Keep talking, I'll just win." He laughed, throwing the ball through the hoop once more. "S."

Before I could say anything more, another ball came flying past Tyler's head. As we both glanced over, I noticed that Jasper had a look of pure rage, Alice speaking to him as she dragged him away.

"Sorry about that." Emmett Cullen called over. "My bad, I got cocky."

Using Tyler's distraction of replying to the large Cullen, I quickly made the final basket, calling out "E."

"Dammit." Tyler sighed, looking back at me. "Alright, fair is fair."

"I believe there is a very lucky lady that you need to ask to a dance, friend." I smirked, holding the basketball to my hip. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to speak at your funeral."

Sighing, he looked over at the moody blonde on the other court before reluctantly making his way over.

 **-x-x-x-**

I ended up being late to History, meaning I had no time to talk to the pair of Cullen's I spent the most time with.

Rosalie had reacted as expected and swiftly thrown something at Tyler's head, meaning that I had to hold an ice pack to it for the remainder of gym whilst apologising profusely. Although, he deserved it for making the bet in the first place.

After dodging Jessica's questions about the dance with Bella's help, I made my way towards Chemistry with Eric.

Throughout both History and Chemistry, I noticed that Jasper's mood hadn't seemed to lighten since I'd seen him get dragged out of gym by Alice. It looked as though he just wanted to get out of school quickly today and possibly find a way to never come back.

"Do you think I should ask Bella to ask me to the dance?" Eric asked me as we packed away our things, leaving the classroom.

Trying to hide my smirk, I answered. "I think that's a great idea. I'm surprised you haven't asked her out sooner." Bella was going to kill me, I knew that.

"Well, I don't think anyone wants to get rejected." He laughed. "Speaking of which, I heard what happened with Tyler in gym."

"Tyler was an idiot, in many ways." I rolled my eyes. "Did you know he was going to propose that bet?"

Nodding enthusiastically, he smirked. "I figured that either way it was going to end in an amusing way, so I told him it was a great idea."

How ironic that Eric did the same thing to Tyler that I'm doing to him. Well, he can't say he didn't deserve it.

Walking into Biology, Jasper was following closely behind me.

As I sat down, I expected the stressed boy to speak to me as he always did. He usually spoke to me as though he had been waiting to do so for his entire life. But today, he just didn't seem interested in the slightest, choosing instead to sit with a dark cloud over his head.

"Jasper?" I asked softly. "Are you alright?"

Looking up at me, his angry eyes seemed to soften. "I'm alright, just having a bad day."

"Want to talk about it?" I offered. "It's not like you haven't done the same thing for me before."

Shaking his head, he gave me a smile that was only barely visible. "No, it's alright. How has your day been? I heard you got an offer to the dance."

Sighing, I rested my elbows on the desk in front of me. "Yeah, I did. Ridiculous really, I don't know why Tyler thought it was a good idea."

"You don't think you're good enough for him?" Jasper questioned, looking at his hands.

"It's not that. I'm just not interested in Tyler that way, at all." I explained, running a hand through my hair. "I could never see myself being with him like that."

My words appeared to catch his attention as he sat up straighter. "No? And what kind of guy do you envision yourself with?"

I felt my heart rate increase as I thought of the best way to answer him. I couldn't say the first thing that popped into my head, it was way too embarrassing. I couldn't just flat out tell him that the only guy I have been able to see myself with was him; it was laughable.

A smirk formed on his face as he leaned in closer. "Is there a specific person who has caught your interest?"

Looking anywhere but him, I prayed for something, anything, to happen to end this conversation. The distance between us paired with the look he was giving me was just too much for me to deal with at the moment and I needed to plan an escape.

As if the universe had shown me mercy, I small cry of pain was heard from the back of the classroom.

"Mr Grayson." Our teacher scolded the student at the back. "What have I told you about messing around with the equipment?"

The guy at the back had managed to cut his hand open with something that was out on the far back desk.

As I turned to see what was happening, Jasper was suddenly completely against me, shoulders tense as he faced the opposite direction of the injury at the back.

"Jasper? What's wrong?" I asked, holding onto him to steady myself. He had moved so fast that I had slightly lost my balance.

"I just don't do so well around _that_." He stressed, his jaw locked so that the words only just managed to escape.

He wasn't alright around blood? Did he have a weak stomach or something?

"Come on Jasper, I'll take you to the nurse." Alice said, appearing beside us. "It's okay."

Jasper seemed to reluctantly move away from me before rushing out of the door.

"What was that?" Tyler asked, coming up next to me.

"I have no idea…" I answered, my eyes still locked on the door the pale pair had left through.

 **-x-x-x-**

Sitting in my bedroom, I finally let myself think back to the conversation I had with my mother the night before.

What had she meant when she told me that if I read the book then I would suddenly have other people to talk to about my apparent magical abilities? Surely it wasn't possible that I was even a witch, never mind anyone else that I knew. And I truly hoped that she wasn't hinting to other mythical creatures existing; the last thing I needed was to find out the monsters existed.

But thinking of the Cullen family, I couldn't help but wonder if she was hinting about them. When she had first seen Jasper, she had frozen… Was it because he was something that she recognised? It wasn't possible… Was it?

 _Just read the book._

Glancing over to my desk, I took a deep breathe. The large book was still there, waiting to be opened, waiting to share its knowledge with me.

"Okay…" I said to myself, opening the book to the first page.

It seemed to start with a history of our family. A tale on how we were descended from a long line of witches and magic folk.

Skipping through a few pages, I scanned written words about a multitude of creatures that I had always believed to be myths and fiction. As I reached about half way through the book, one page stood out to me amongst the rest.

The golden eyes and pale skin flashed into my mind.

Sitting down to read, I traced my finger over the title of the page.

"Vampires…"

 **-x-x-x-**

 **A/N: Dun dun dunnnn.**

 **I mean, it was a very obvious thing that was away to happen so it's not really a "dun dun dunn" moment but oh well.**

 **Sorry I have been MIA, I decided to go to university, so I have been studying a lot. It means that my dreams of updating this weekly have gone firmly out of the window. But I will still be updating! You will eventually get an ending to this story, I promise!**

 **Jasper and Alexis' story will not fade away into nothing, it will be a long one and it will have an ending. That I am sure of.**

 **So, just be patient with me please, I will update it as often as I can, I swear.**

 **For now, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **~fawningfantasy x**


	13. A Chance to Explain

**Chapter 13: A Chance to Explain.**

 **-x-x-x-**

" _With the moon I run,_

 _Far from the carnage of the fiery sun._

 _Driven by the strangle of vein,_

 _Showing no mercy, I'd do it again."_

Kings of Leon – Closer (Presets Remix)

 **-x-x-x-**

As I watched the sun break through the tree line, I debated taking the day off school. Would I be able to fool my father into thinking I was genuinely ill and needed bed rest? I had never been able to do so before.

Sighing, I got dressed for the no doubt emotionally and mentally draining day ahead of me. Stroking the back of Pepper's head, I thought about discussing the situation with my mother, last night thinking it best to keep my possible discovery to myself until I had some form of proof.

What if the Cullens were just weirdly pale and strong? What if I had completely fallen for my mother's impossible rantings and all of this was subconsciously an attempt to prove that she wasn't crazy?

Deciding that the best choice was to go to school, I thought about the best way to achieve what I needed to. Surely a public place was the best way to go, the risk of death significantly lowered. I didn't want to think about what would happen if I took the day off school and Jasper came around to check on me. What would happen if I revealed what I _possibly_ know to him in the privacy of my own home?

"Lex, love?" My mother called up to me. "Bella is here, says she wants to get to school early for something."

Sighing, I remembered how Bella had pleaded with me to go in to school earlier to avoid having the awkward stare down her and Edward seemed to have every morning since his return. He was apparently kind to her one second but then acting as if she was a blemish on his life the next.

"Hey Bells." I greeted quietly as I made my way to the bottom of the stairs. "I'm ready when you are, I guess."

A small gasp came from the kitchen as my mother heard my words, rushing into the hallway to stop us from leaving. "You are in no way ready. Both of you will move your butts into that kitchen and wait for a nice balanced and healthy breakfast. Whether you choose to sit and eat or take it with you, I don't care but I will _not_ let you leave without it."

Knowing it was best to do as my mum asked, we both quickly shuffled into the kitchen to find my father reading a newspaper at the table, already dressed for work. I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as I sat down next to him.

"Ah, Lex, good morning." He greeted, his smile widening as it landed on my awkward friend hopping onto the stool next to me. "Bella, what a lovely surprise!" He beamed, folding the paper and placing it down in front of him. "You know you don't have to hide away at your father's, we're extremely thankful that you came along to Forks for Lexi, you should really let us cook you a good meal as a thank you. Bring your father!"

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she nodded slightly with a small smile. "Sure, I'll try and see when Charlie can do it."

My dad nodded to himself in accomplishment before turning his attention back to me. "And what about that Jasper boy?" He asked. "Is he going to be joining us for another movie night any time soon? Adam didn't scare him away, did he?"

With the mention of his name, I found myself frozen, gaining a confused glance from Bella. "Erm…" I started, trying to form any kind of words before opening my mouth again. "I don't know, dad. His family really like to spend time together, so I don't know when he'd even have the time to."

"Well, let him know that he's welcome any time." He smiled once more before turning back to his newspaper.

Bella caught my attention by giving me another questioning look, only looking away as I gave a slight shake of my head, signalling that now really wasn't the time.

"Here you go, girls." My mother cooed, handing us each a brown paper bag, filled with what I could only expect to be some homemade pancakes and a range of fruit. "I took a wild guess as to which option you'd be choosing."

"Thanks mum." I replied, giving her a hug as I followed Bella from the kitchen, my best friend giving a slight wave to my parents as we left.

Once in the safety of the truck, she turned to me, deep brown eyes filled with concern. "What happened with Jasper?"

Sighing, I placed my head in my hands, wishing that she hadn't seen my reaction. I couldn't tell her anything, it was one of the only rules that my mother had forced me to accept. "I don't know, Bells. I just started getting a weird vibe from him, you know?" I lied, guilt already creeping into every fibre of my body. "Maybe it's best we both just stay away from the Cullens, hm?"

Her eyes narrowed, I could already tell she didn't really believe me, but she let it go…

After all, I had never lied to her before…

 **-x-x-x-**

I managed to make it through first and second period avoiding every Cullen that almost crossed my path, clinging to Angela's side throughout Photography taking note of Alice's confusion when I didn't even acknowledge her on my way into the classroom.

But as I sat at an outside bench with the group at break, I wondered how I would manage this throughout the rest of the day. There was no possible way for me to avoid Alice and Jasper in History fourth period and no getting out of being alone with Jasper in Biology before I got to leave for the day.

Thoughts popped into my head about getting injured in Gym next period and going home, but I felt as though that was just slightly too dramatic and still ran the risk of Jasper coming over to check on me.

I had to figure out a way to talk to Jasper alone without being stuck in the same classroom as him for an hour or even longer.

As the bell rang, I still had no clue as to what I was going to do.

"You ready for Gym?" Tyler asked, holding out his arm for me. "You still on planet earth?"

Shaking my head to get rid of the multitude of thoughts running around it, I linked my arm with his. "I'm just having a weird morning, is all."

"Great, I'll use it to my advantage." He beamed. "You're gonna lose today, Bun bun."

" _Lexi._ " I pleaded in a moan. "Please stop it with the ridiculous nicknames."

Tyler looked as though he were contemplating something as he stopped us both in front of the Gym. "Okay, I'll stop if you win our game."

Shaking his hand vigorously, I happily agreed to the terms. "If you think I'm going to lose just because I'm a little bit out of it then you are very wrong."

"We'll see."

It took around 10 minutes for Tyler to realise that he'd lost once more. His shoulders slumped as he accepted the fact that he wouldn't be able to make up any more names for me, but he had to realise by now that the only reason I've won our basketball games was because I had incredible motivation from our bets.

I was tired as hell; how did he do this all the time for the team? This is ridiculous.

"You know the Cullens haven't stopped looking over here the entire lesson so far?" He asked, looking over my shoulder.

I decided it was best for me not to look in that general direction. "You say that like it doesn't happen all the time."

"It doesn't for anyone else."

Rolling my eyes, I was sick of being told about the Cullens, sick of people staring at me just because I had gotten some form of attention from the family. "I think I'm going to take a break, Ty. I'm feeling a bit tired."

"Are you okay?" He asked, lightly holding my elbow. "Do you need me to take you to the nurse or anything?"

"No. No." I smiled. "I'm alright, I just need a break."

Deciding to go over to the bleachers, I decided to sit at the top of the ones closer to the track, not wanting to be close to the basketball court for now. I needed space, I needed some more time to think.

Casting a glance over to the students who were once again sitting out of Gym, I wondered how it was that Coach had managed to be charmed by a student; my mind flashing to the book I'd read the previous night.

They had different abilities. Some vampires were able to do special things that were terrifying to think of; read minds, make you feel pain when they weren't even touching you, even being able to make you feel almost nothing at all…

As the word "vampire" popped into my head, I noticed Edward finally look my way, the only one who hadn't looked at me all morning.

I watched as he turned to Jasper, before Jasper himself stood up and started walking in my direction.

Panic flitted through my body, not knowing what my next move was as I glanced around for any possible exit route that didn't involve me walking down the steps. By the time I made it down, he would almost be here, and I would have no chance to avoid him.

But then it hit me. I knew exactly what my next move was. In the coming days, I would reprimand myself constantly for not thinking about the consequences of if I was wrong about everything.

Standing up, I threw my legs over the banister next to me, my gaze focused on the honey haired boy walking towards me, his pace now slightly faster than it was before.

Any human wouldn't be able to reach me in time, there was no doubt in my mind.

I let go of the railing, feeling the air flow past me as I fell, my eyes closing.

But as I suspected, the fall didn't end with me hitting the floor and God knows what happening to me. The fall ended into a pair of muscular arms that were the temperature of a winter ocean.

As I opened my eyes, I found his golden ones staring back at me. He had the audacity to look frightened, as though I was the monster out of the two of us.

I felt my fear rise as I struggled out of his arms, putting distance between us.

"Lex." He started, hands raised in an attempt to calm me down, to show me that he meant no harm. But there was no way something like him could be safe.

"Don't come near me." I stuttered out, hating my voice for conveying how afraid I truly was; how weak I knew I was against him. "I know what you are."

His eyes never once unlocked from mine, I felt the ever-present calming feeling that seemed to follow Jasper Hale around.

Not wanting to let my guard down, I quickly moved away from him towards the nurse's office, although I could hear him closely following behind me. Honestly, I was happy that he was keeping a normal human pace, obviously frightened about what would happen if more people were to find out his little secret.

As I entered the office, I noticed that Jasper hadn't followed me through the door. Part of me was relieved, but I knew there had to be a reason for it, that he had to have a plan in mind.

"If you really feel the need to go home, then I'll call your mother for you, alright?" The nurse said to me as I played up, acting as though I could barely stand.

It was then that Jasper walked in. "Lex, are you alright?" He asked, almost as if our past interaction hadn't even happened. "Do you need a lift home or anything? I don't mind giving you a lift before next period."

"Oh, that's so nice of you, Mr Hale." She smiled, warmly. "Well then, Miss Hanson, I guess you are free to go, I'll let your teachers know the situation."

"What? No, I can't…" Stopping my sentence, I realised that there was no way for me to explain to her why I couldn't get a lift home from Jasper. He had outsmarted me, he had waited to come in, knowing when the right time would be to walk in an act like a knight in shining armour. "Thank you, I'll hopefully be fine tomorrow." I decided to say to the nurse, instead.

"Feel better, dear."

 **-x-x-x-**

Needing to collect my things from the Gym, I noticed Alice waiting inside the girl's locker room, probably knowing I would try to escape.

"Just hear him out…" She pleaded with me. "I swear, you'll change your mind about us."

"You…" I couldn't even look at her, knowing that this sweet girl who had been so nice to me was actually a blood sucking beast trying to lure me into a false sense of security. "I don't need to hear anything from any of you."

I noticed her worried expression out of the corner of my eye. It almost made me feel guilty; _almost_. But these were smart creatures, they needed to lure you in, I had read all about it. They were beautiful, all of them were, to fool humans into thinking they had some form of sexual attraction, nobody would ever question if a vampire, looking the way they do, took interest in them.

Walking out of the door, I noticed that Jasper was immediately by my side.

Fear reared up in me once more at the thought of being alone in a car with him. Where was he going to take me? Was this it? Was this how I was going to die?

Climbing into the passenger's seat of Emmett's Jeep, Jasper quickly joined me in the vehicle and started the engine, pulling away from the parking lot before I had another chance to get away.

"How did you find out?" He asked as he turned off onto a highway.

I already knew he wasn't taking me home. "Does it really matter?" I asked in return, my voice barely a whisper, my body doing it's best to hold in the frightened tremors that were fighting to start.

He tried to reach out a hand towards mine, but I quickly recoiled. How could he think I would ever let him touch me again? If he wanted any kind of physical connection, he was going to have to take it by force, he was going to have to show me how much of a beast he really is.

"Listen, I'll answer any questions that you have, if you give me a chance to explain. The first thing you need to know is that my family and I don't feed on humans." He told me. "I don't want you to make any snap decisions, just wait until we get somewhere more private."

As the word private passed his lips, my fear spiked once more, only to be replaced with the calming feeling I had come to crave over the past couple of weeks.

For the rest of the drive, we were silent. I didn't want anything to ruin the feeling that had spread through me until I could be out of this car and a further distance away from Jasper. But as the car stopped on the edge of a river, a realisation hit me.

"Is that you?" I accused.

His eyes shifted uneasily, looking anywhere but me as he exited the car and walked to the riverside.

Racing out of the car after him, my fear had suddenly been replaced by anger. "That calming feeling I get whenever I'm around you? Is that your doing?"

His head bowed, almost as if it was in shame. "Yes… I have the power to feel and control certain emotions." He sighed.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I realised that all along, the connection I thought I had with Jasper was all a lie; a manipulation by Jasper Hale himself to make me feel calm around what I now knew was a deadly predator.

"I couldn't stand how uneasy you felt… How sad and worried you were when your brother was missing." He tried to explain, looking my way. "I swear, I was doing it for you, I wasn't trying to do anything other than calm you down."

"Everything I've felt about you…" I whispered, trying once more to figure out a way out of the situation I had stuck myself in. "I can't trust any of it."

He quickly made his way towards me, stopping an arms-length away as he saw me flinch back. "Everything else you felt was you, I only ever made you feel calm, _everything else_ was _you_."

"How am I meant to trust that?" I gasped out, tears starting to spill down my face. "Everything I've known about you has been a _lie_. How am I meant to just trust that a _vampire_ is looking out for me? That a _vampire_ wants what's best for me?"

He flinched every time I said the word, but I no longer cared. My fear was replaced with a feeling of emptiness that I hadn't felt before. If he was going to kill me then he was going to kill me, there was no point in spending my last moments afraid.

"I would never hurt you." He whispered, so low that I could barely hear him. "I could never do that."

Searching his eyes as they locked with mine once again, I found only pain and heartbreak. But I couldn't trust that any of it was real. He could be fooling me again, was he trying to calm me down again? Was he trying to make me feel something for him again?

"Why?" I decided to ask. "Why me? Why not somebody else who would willingly do anything for you? Go back to the school, any girl would jump at the chance to spend time with you. So why me?"

"You're not like them." He started to explain. "I thought that Alice was mad when she told me that you would be important to me; she has the ability to see the future."

To see the future? How is that even possible?

"But then…" He trailed off, sitting down on a low wall by the river's edge. "Then I had to walk past you, that first day in Chemistry… And everything changed."

Silence fell upon the pair of us as I sat down next to him, not missing his subtle edge towards me. I didn't have the energy to move away, I just felt drained.

"What changed?" I asked, needing some kind of clarification.

"You smelt different from everyone else… I'm the newest member of the family, it's been difficult for me to get used to not feeding on humans, but with you I had no such desire." He explained, staring out at the waves.

Part of me felt ridiculous for the feeling of anger that slightly arose in me. I shouldn't feel offended that a vampire didn't want to eat me, it was a good thing, but what the hell did it even mean?

"So, what, I smell disgusting to you?" I ask, pulling my jacket closer to my body as the wind blew over the water, sending a chilled breeze over in our direction.

He gave the faintest chuckle as he threw his jacket over my shoulders. It felt wrong, knowing what he was, but I couldn't refuse the extra warmth. "No… You don't smell disgusting to me, you just… You don't smell delicious either… You just smell like you." He explained, looking over my face with a kind of fondness you don't expect from his kind. "Like the forest on a rainy day in spring. It's a beautiful scent, one I've come to rely on."

"Rely on?" I asked, feeling my cheeks heat up. Though I didn't know if it was from his words or my body naturally trying to fight off the cold.

"Your scent, it masks everyone else's. When I told you the other day that there was something I struggled with and that you made it better, I was telling the truth." He admitted. "When I'm around you, the smell of blood disappears and is solely replaced with you… You have no idea how much you help me on a daily basis."

Taking a deep breathe, I wasn't sure how to respond. A part of me still wanted to run far away, but there was a small part of me that wanted to stay close to him. I just hoped that it wasn't some form of attraction to him; that I wanted to stay near Jasper to stop him from wanting to feed on others.

"So, you wouldn't kill me just because you don't have the urge to eat me or others when you're close to me?" I asked.

There was a war in his eyes, he'd told me he would answer any question, but it seems as though he was starting to regret his words. "That is one of the reasons, yes."

"One of?"

"I don't think you're quite ready to hear the other reason." He whispered, his tone filled with sadness.

After a long pause, I let out a small sigh, deciding it was only fair to tell him my secret. "I'm a witch…" I admitted quietly, though I knew he could hear me. "That's how I knew what you were. Although I only found out recently…"

"A witch?" He asked, confusion morphing his features. "And your parents? Your brother?"

"Just my mother…" I confessed. "My father and Adam have no idea about any of it, we're apparently not allowed to tell ordinary people about our kind…"

"That's something I can relate to."

A single tear escape my eye once more, my hand swiftly moving to wipe it away. "I can't even tell Bella, I never keep secrets from Bella…"

The slight icy feeling made me aware of his fingers slowly grazing my own in an attempt to comfort me. Every inch of my body and soul fought against each other. I knew that this exquisite boy in front of me was dangerous, someone that I should run away from, but he showed me such tenderness that it was hard to remember that.

"No harm is going to come to anyone while we're here, Alexis." Jasper assured me. "Our presence keeps others of our kind away, thinking we've claimed the town as a feeding ground."

A shiver ran down my spine, not fully understanding how he could speak so bluntly about the current topic.

"Can you take me home?" I asked, raising to my feet. "This is a lot of information to take in…"

"Of course." He replied, coming to walk beside me back to the Jeep.

In the warmth of the car, I was finally able to take Jasper's jacket off, laying down in the back seat. I knew I wasn't ready for any more information, but that didn't stop me from asking, "So, you can control and feel emotions, Alice can see the future… Is there anything else I should know about?"

"Edward can read minds." He explained. "His reaction to you in the hospital, the way he cornered you. He saw in your mind when you envisioned us with red eyes, it put him on edge. He was certain that you were hiding something, that you knew about us and were playing us in some way."

So that's why Edward came off as an asshole. "And Bella? Why is he acting so weird around her?"

"She…" He looked out of the window, as though he was contemplating not tell me. "Her blood smells differently to him. Not in the same way as you smell different, her blood calls to him more than anyone else's. We refer to those people as singers. It took everything in him not to kill her when they first met."

My eyes widened to an almost painful size. Bella was in danger and I had no way to really warn her.

"Please stop." He begged. "I can't handle when you feel scared… Bella is safe, Edward wouldn't hurt her, he's come to terms with the fact he has some kind of feelings for her."

"Feelings?" I asked, my panic dimming.

Jasper sighed. "He's trying his best to stay away from her, trying to push her away. He doesn't want her mixed up in our world, he thinks it's far too dangerous, but he's finding it hard to be away from her."

"So, he… Loves her?" I asked, trying to wrap my head around everything.

He looked down as we arrived outside my house. "I think that's a conversation for another time."

Nodding my head in understanding, I exited the car, feeling Jasper walk close behind me until we reached the front door. I turned to look at him, not really knowing what to say. I wasn't terrified of him anymore, and I had this feeling that I knew the Cullen's weren't a threat; I just hoped that it wasn't Jasper making me feel that way. I couldn't trust anything while they were around, I needed space, to know that what feelings and thoughts I had were my own.

"Thank you, for being honest with me." I said, tucking my hair behind my ears, the wind blowing slightly rougher now. "I'll keep your secret, nobody would believe me anyway."

"Thank you." Jasper replied, shifting as though he were unsure on what to do next.

Looking at my front door, I knew I had to leave him, I had to get away, to clear my head. "If you could just… Give me a few days or a couple weeks…"

If I didn't know any better I'd say he looked as though his very heart was shattering. After a few seconds he plastered a smile on his face, but even I could tell it was fake. "Of course." He said. "Anything you need."

It almost pained me to leave him in that way, so before I opened my front door, I turned back to say one last thing to him. But, before I could, I was realised he was only inches from me, I was able to feel his breath against my cheek. Freezing in place, I wondered what he was going to do.

His eyes examined my face for a few seconds, before he simply rested his forehead on my own. "Just don't hate me." He mumbled, locking his eyes with mine.

My breath came out in short sharp puffs, as he moved away from me and back to the Jeep. Within a few seconds, he was gone.

Tears appeared in my eyes as I was unable to comprehend what was happening.

Running into my house, past my confused brother at the bottom of the stairs, and into my room, I locked my door and collapsed. I found it hard to breathe, repeating the words "Vampires and witches aren't real" to myself over and over again.

I hoped that this would all be one of my realistic dreams. That I would wake up back in Phoenix with Bella waiting for me at the door, miles away from this place.

Nothing made sense to me anymore.

But one thing that scared me more than anything, was that even with Jasper Hale far away from me…

I still wanted him near me.

I still trusted him.

 **-x-x-x-**

 **A/N: And we're finally into the story. We're past the beginning where she knows nothing, thank everything that is good in this world.**

 **I always find it hardest to get past the beginning, I always get too frustrated that they don't know anything, cause the good bit is always after the revelations!**

 **Anyway, thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, it gives me motivation to update! Thank you!**

 **Thank you to everyone who has followed and favourited so far, it means a lot.**

 **I'll see you all again soon, hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **~ fawningfantasy x**


	14. Human

**Chapter 14: Human.**

 **-x-x-x-**

" _I've been holding onto hope,_

 _That you'll come back when you can find some peace._

 _Cause every word that I've heard spoken,_

 _Since you left feels like a hollow street."_

Lewis Capaldi – Bruises.

 **-x-x-x-**

It had been over a week since I had found out about the Cullens.

Every school day I found myself awkwardly sat next to Jasper last period, hoping for the bell to ring to free me from the tension that came from his presence.

He had kept his distance from me, even in our classes together, giving me the space that I had asked for. Something I noticed was that I hadn't felt that wave of calm at all; not once. It made me feel like he was attempting to show me that he meant no harm, that he wasn't trying to lure me in like I initially thought. I didn't quite know if that made me feel better or worse about the whole situation.

Bella still wouldn't give up on Edward, talking about how she knows there is something different about him but can't figure out what it was. It was torture for me not being able to tell her everything I knew. I had hardly spent any time with her since everything was revealed to me, and I felt awful about it all.

"I don't see why he saved me." Bella mumbled to herself as she drove us to school. "He just seems so angry at me for still being alive."

I felt my stomach clench at the idea of keeping the truth from her again. "I'm sure he doesn't regret saving you, Bells." I sighed, looking out the window. "I just think moody, broody, loner guy is his thing."

"Moody, broody, loner guy?" She scoffed a laugh. "Really?"

"Tell me I'm wrong."

Shaking her head, she pulled into her usual parking spot. "I just think there's more to him, Lex. Something that he's keeping from everyone."

 _You have no idea, Bells._

"Well, I guess we'll never know." I lied, hopping out of the truck. "At least this school trip should give us both some much needed space from the Cullens."

"Okay, what happened with Jasper?" She asked, coming around to stand next to me. "It seemed like you guys were at least friends, what changed? What did he do?"

My eyes never leaving the ground, I just couldn't look at her as I had to force out another lie. "He just wasn't what I expected, I guess."

"What does that even mean?" She questioned, her eyebrows furrowed as she stared at me.

Feeling eyes on me, I looked over to see Jasper, Alice and Edward all stood waiting for the order to get on the buses. Great. I was sure that they would find a way to talk their way out of school trips like they did with Gym, but apparently that was a pipe dream.

Luckily, it took Bella's attention off me, her focus moving over to Edward Cullen.

"Make sure I get your permission slips." Mr Molina, one of the biology teachers called over.

Taking a hold of Bella's slip I decided to use it as an excuse to regain my composure, walking over to give him ours.

"Hey, Lex." Eric pulled me over to a side. "I think you should watch this." He smirked.

Following his gaze, I watched as Mike approached Bella with a nervous look on his face.

"Oh, don't do it, Michael." I squirmed, my hands moving to slightly cover my eyes. "Please don't do it."

Eric's laugh from beside me told me that there was no way Bella wasn't getting asked out right this second. This was horrifying; that poor little puppy of a boy was going to be rejected and I really didn't want him moping around on the trip for the rest of the day.

Taking pity on the poor blonde, I made my way over to the pair as I heard the end of Bella's excuse.

"Non-refundable ticket." She shrugged, looking over at me with an obvious sense of relief. "Lex, I was just telling Mike about my trip to Jacksonville coming up."

"Oh right," I covered for her. "I remember you talking to your mum about it over the phone. It's the week of the dance, right?"

She quickly linked her arm with mine, giving my hand a firm squeeze of thank you.

"That sucks." Mike sighed. "So, Lex… Do you think you'd want to..?"

I could feel my face morph into disbelief. There was no way he was doing what I thought he was doing. "You're making me your backup plan? Is that really a wise move right now?"

His eyes widened as he realised his mistake, looking between Bella and I before trying to look for an escape route.

"You should ask Jessica." Bella offered, glancing at the girl stood near the bus. "I know she wants to go with you."

Jessica gave a small smile and a wave as Bella finished her sentence, Mike seeming relieved to have an easy out.

As Mike walked away, I turned to Bella with a laugh. "Did he seriously just use me as a backup plan for you saying no? What the hell was that?"

Laughing as she pulled me over to the buses, she giggled an "I have no idea." as we sat down together.

 **-x-x-x-**

When we got to the greenhouse, I wondered why the school thought it wise to bring a bunch of high school students here; I could already see a few of the guys glancing back at the worm box. Those poor worms, they had no idea what was coming.

As we walked around, I tried my best to stay close to Bella, keeping a close eye on the Cullens who were walking ahead of us.

As much as they made me feel uneasy recently, I couldn't help but feel this pull towards Jasper on a daily basis. My eyes seemed to lock onto him instantly, no matter how many other people were in the room. I knew that he could manipulate emotions if he wished, but I doubted that he had the ability to invade my every thought.

But an obsession with a vampire was a dangerous thing; something I didn't know if I was ready for.

"Don't drink it!" Mr Molina yelled, grabbing a mug of compost tea off Tyler, taking my gaze away from the trio.

I wasn't surprised, I was friends with idiots. Glorious idiots.

Noticing Edward pause to let people past him, I knew there was going to be an awkwardly conversation between him and Bella any second now.

"What's in Jacksonville?" He asked.

Choosing not to stick around for the full conversation, I instead walked over to a secluded part of the greenhouse. There was flowers of all colours and shapes lining a wall, a true thing of beauty. I suppose one thing that didn't surprise me about my mother telling me I was a witch, was when she said we had a close link to nature.

I had always loved flowers, trees, animals… And now that I was aware of the ever so slight magic flowing through me, I could almost feel the very life of the flowers before me. Reaching over to stroke one of the petals, I felt peaceful. I needed to start helping my mother with our garden, I suddenly understood how she could fall in love with it so easily.

Feeling a small shiver run down my spine, I knew he was behind me before he made his presence known. It was often like that over the past week, I could always feel when he was near, but I somehow knew it was my own doing rather than his.

"How are you?" He asked in a whisper from beside me.

Glancing up to meet his gaze, I softly responded with "I'm okay."

"The bleeding-heart flower?" He asked, noticing the flower that I favoured.

"It's always been my favourite." I explained. "It's like nature's trying to show it's love, you know? Or it's heartbreak at how the world is changing."

As I finished speaking, I felt as his hand grazed my lower back. "Very poetic." He smiled softly, staring at the flower from over my shoulder.

Moving just out of his reach, I noticed how his hand linger for a few moments before falling back to his side.

"I said I was okay, Jasper…" I sighed, barely audible. "Not that I… That we…" The words couldn't quite come together for me. "That I've managed to wrap my head around everything yet."

His gaze lowered to the floor as he nodded in understanding. "My apologies."

"I believe you, when you say that your family aren't a real danger to the people here, I do." I assured him. "I just need a little more time."

"However long it takes." He replied, his gaze intense.

I felt the air leave my lungs as he kept his eyes locked on mine. It was moments like this that hurt the most; moments where I was so sure that Jasper Hale indeed cared about me, but I was unable to believe it as the truth.

He said nothing more as he glanced back at the bleeding-heart flower before leaving my side to join Alice near the exit.

 **-x-x-x-**

Grabbing the worm off the end of Eric's stick as he tried to chase people with it, I placed the animal back into the box it called its home.

"Cruelty isn't funny, kids." I smiled at the boys. "You're all morons."

"C'mon Lex." Tyler groaned. "Lighten up a little."

Rolling my eyes, I glanced over to see Bella was still in an intense conversation with Edward Cullen. Lost in my thoughts, I didn't realise that Jessica had popped up beside me.

"Guess who asked me to prom!" She grinned.

Startling a little, I hopped away from her. "Jesus." I gasped. "Hey, Jess… And prom? Isn't that a bit far away?"

"Well, yeah, we have that dance to go through but that's really soon, Lex." She explained. "And then it's no time at all until prom is upon us."

"Well, I'm happy for you." I said. "So, who is it that asked you?"

Jess seemed to realise that she had originally told me to guess and shook her head with a laugh. "Mike did." She smiled. "I thought he'd ask Bella, but she said that we're perfect together so."

Looking over to my best friend who was now walking onto the bus, I shook my head. "There's no way her and Mike would ever happen, Jess. Everyone knows you're right for him."

"I think so." The brunette grinned. "We'll have to go shopping for dresses at some point, let's be real there is no way that Jasper won't be asking you-"

"No." I cut her off. "I don't think that'll happen, I'll probably go with Bella to visit her mother."

"Isn't she going soon? I thought she was going the week of the dance?" Mike asked, confused, walking up to the two of us.

Realising my mistake, I quickly covered my tracks. "She misses her mum, Mike, she'll go to see her more than once." I explained. "She'll probably be planning to move back in with her mother by the time prom comes around."

"She's not staying in Forks?" Jess asked, looking only slightly sad about the news.

"It's not the plan." I answered, before giving a quick goodbye to go check on Bella who was no doubt criticising her recent interaction with the Cullen boy.

Walking between the school buses, I noticed as Alice gave me a small sad wave through the window. But I could only give an awkward smile in return as I searched for Bells on the other vehicle.

Sitting down next to her, I noticed the calculating look in her eyes. "You okay, Bells?"

"He just doesn't make any sense." She sighed, sinking into the chair. "It's like every sentence he comes out with is a riddle that I have to figure out."

"Or it means he's just a confusing boy that you should stay away from." I offered with a shrug.

Giving me a slight glare, she shifted her gaze over to the Cullens. "I can't let it go, Lex. He's hiding something, and I need to know what it is."

"Curiosity killed the cat." I replied, my tone somewhat remorseful as I realised how accurate that metaphor could become.

 **-x-x-x-**

Once we arrived home, I'd made the excuse of being tired so that Bella wouldn't ask me to come round.

I could tell that she was starting to realise I was keeping things from her. But I just couldn't do anything about it, what do you do when you find out about this huge part of yourself and you're not allowed to tell your own best friend? Just to find out another secret about the boy she was wildly interested in, and be unable to tell her about that either?

It was an impossible thing to deal with.

Moving my finger over the small plant in my room, I watched as the leaves turned a brighter green.

Since reading the book that my mother had given me, I'd started trying to learn the small acts of magic that I could accomplish without being found out. I figured that keeping a plant alive wasn't going to raise a lot of alarm bells.

"Lex?" I heard my mother greet me as she shuffled into my room. I could hear it in her tone that she wanted to apologise to me again for being incapable of telling Bella anything.

"Please don't apologise to me again, mum." I sighed, turning to face her. "There's nothing you can really do about it, right?"

She shook her head with a look of pity. "I know how hard it is, love. You know you have me to talk to whenever you need."

Picking at my nails, I nodded in understanding. "I haven't really wanted to talk about this, but… Do you know about the Cullens?"

"You read the book." She sighed, sitting down on my bed. "Are they aware that you know?"

"Yeah." I replied, almost in a whisper. "I freaked out, obviously. Can I ask you a question?"

Confusion crossing her features, she nodded her head. "Of course, you can, Lex."

"When you first saw Jasper… You looked terrified." I started, my mind replaying that night. "But then, you relaxed. Why? Why were you so comfortable with a vampire being in our house? With me spending so much time with him?"

"I noticed his eyes." She responded, warmly, a small smile pulling at her lips. "His eyes told me everything I needed to know."

Disbelief filled me. "So, what? The colour made you realise that he doesn't eat people _just now_ and that was enough for you?"

Her smile grew ever so slightly as she made to leave the room. "That wasn't the only thing I saw in his eyes, love."

My eyes squinting in confusion, I watched as she left the room. "What does that even mean?" I asked myself.

I felt as Pepper gave my had a swift lick, jumping onto my lap. My hand softly stroking her hair as my mind drifted away.

As my thoughts faded away, my eyes found my own reflection in the window.

But it wasn't something I wanted to see. As I focused on my reflection, and image flashed into my mind of a large gash crossing my neck as red eyes hovered behind me.

Startling back to reality, I heard Pepper give a small yelp as she looked at me with a look of slight distrust.

I wish that it was something new that I was dealing with, but it had been happening every other day, with no sign of stopping. I felt betrayed by my own mind that having Jasper in my life, having him around me during the day, being on good terms with him, was the only time it had clamed down since arriving in Forks.

He was meant to be the reason for them, not the remedy.

I guess that I was just hard to trust anything now.

 **-x-x-x-**

"Lex!" I heard my brother call from downstairs. "There's something at the door for you!"

"Some _thing_?" I asked, making my way down, towards the door. "Not someone?"

Shrugging his shoulders. "Some _thing_. I don't know, I'm guessing the guy knew if he stuck around that I'd go all macho big brother on him." He said, doing stupid strong man poses.

"Ooo, scary." I mocked, rolling my eyes as I opened the front door wider.

As I looked down, I froze.

A bleeding-heart flower.

It took me a while to move again once my mind figured out the only person would have left this for me. I was thankful that my family were all busy elsewhere in the house to watch my reaction, because they would have no doubt had questions.

Leaning down, I picked it up as though it were made of glass. My eyes catching a glimpse of a small note attached to the pot, I turned it over to see the writing.

 _ **Love and heartbreak.**_

Holding the small card to my chest, I felt tears start to build in my eyes.

Never in my life, when I had heard the scary stories about vampires and monsters, did I ever think for one second that they could act so…

Human.

 **-x-x-x-**

 **A/N:**

 **Boom. New chapter. Life is kicking my ass right now, guys. So sorry for the long wait!**

 **Thank you everyone for following, favouriting and reviewing! I really do appreciate it, and this story is no-where near finished and I am definitely not leaving it behind to never be finished!**

 **Chibi-no-baka: Thank you! I really tried to put myself in that kind of position. And all I could think about was that I myself would question any feelings that I'd previously had around him, so thank you for letting me know it was realistic!**

 **To the guest who said she/he wants to call Lex out for her reaction, I genuinely want to know why? I love hearing people's thoughts and would love to know, thank you for reviewing!**

 **I'll hopefully managed to update a lot sooner this time, so keep an eye out!**

 **Thanks again everyone,**

 **~fawningfantasy x**


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